Reunions are soooo fun
by soundlesschime15
Summary: KibaHina, GaaSaku, NaruSaku. Gaara and his siblings have a reunion with the rookie 9 and team Gai. Sasuke strikes after years of being unseen suddenly. Can the rookie 9 handle this or crack under the insanity that's bound to have come from this craziness?
1. Chapter 1

Hi guys! This is my first fic, so please be gentle. Okay, I do have a pairing that I like more than the others, so, this, I am afraid to announce to you Kiba/Hinata haters that this is a Kiba/Hinata fic, there's a fair bit of GaaSaku in it, too, so… I'm starting out small guys, this will be a one-shot, unless you would like me to continue it, and if you would like me to continue it, or you like it, please review.

**I DO NOT OWN NARUTO! A MAN OWNS IT, NOT ME, UNFORTUNATELY FOR ME, I'M COMPLETELY BROKE, AND AM THEREFORE UNABLE TO OWN EVEN A CANDY BAR, IF I DID, I WOULDN'T HAVE THAT CANDY BAR LONG ENOUGH TO SAY THAT I ACTUALLY OWN IT, BUT THAT'S ESIDES THE POINT, AND THIS DISCLAIMER IS GETTING TOO LONG.**

On with the fic…

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Hinata collapsed, exhausted, in a heap.

Kiba walks over to her, falling into a sitting position.

"Hey, Hinata…You can't possibly be…tired…yet…" Kiba says jokingly, breathing hard himself.

"Hai, Kiba-kun." Hinata replies, returning his grin with one of her own, somewhat weaker, smiles.

"Come on, we gotta get it together now, Gaara and friends are coming to the country for a few months, we can't be looking like we just came from hell, and just took a bath in Akamaru's turds, can we?" Kiba jokes, standing up, holding his hand out for Hinata.

Akamaru whines at Kiba's joke.

Laughing, Hinata takes his hand, allowing him to pull her up.

"Yeah, we can't, can we, Gaara-san may take it personally." Hinata says, pulling her hair out of the ponytail, revealing its waist-long length.

"Eh, that's right…Everyone'll be there, and I wouldn't want to see Gaara's expression when Lee gives his 'The Return of Youth' speech. Though, Temari might be scarier." Kiba says, grimacing at the thought.

Hinata grins. "I don't even want to be around for the return of youth speech." Kiba adds.

"I still remember how long it went on for when Naruto-kun came back after being gone only a month, remember your 'Return of Youth' speech, Kiba? It went on forever…When Lee-san finished, you tried to walk away, but you keeled over." Hinata smiles. She had gotten over Naruto a year ago, when she and the rest of the rookie nine were 17 years old.

"Yes. But as I recall, there was a major event that day, and when Lee gave me the 'Return of Youth' speech, you were stationed at the sake bowl. A waiter plowed through you and you got a face full of sake. You were tipsy for the whole day." Hinata laughs at the memory.

"At least Gaara wasn't there for that."

"Alright Hinata, you and I better get this show on the road, or else we might get caught late, like Kakashi, then everyone would assume we were reading Icha Icha Paradise and are perverts." Kiba says in mock fright.

"Not me." Hinata says. "I don't know about you, don't you already read those books?"

"It was one page on a DARE!" Kiba yells after the retreating Hinata.

"Bye Kiba!" Hinata yells over her shoulder.

"See ya at the Hokage Monument, Hinata!" Kiba yells.

"Not if I see you first!" Hinata laughs.

Kiba sighs good heartedly and continues in the direction of his own home.

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Sakura slips her usual clothing, glancing over at the mirror.

'Gaara-kun…' Sakura thinks. Shaking her head, she stops herself.

'Whoa, where did that come from? Well, I haven't seen him for a while, and today I get to see him for the first time in a few years.' Sakura reasons. 'No way could that have come right out of the blue just like that.'

_Its cause you like him. _

'Oh my god, who the hell was that?' Sakura thinks frantically.

_I'M BAAAACK! _Inner Sakura cackles.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Sakura screams out loud.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"Naruto yells, opening the door to Sakura's screaming.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!" Sakura screams.

"Jeez Sakura, you scared me." Naruto mumbles.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Sakura screams.

"Oh, hey Naruto." Sakura blushes in embarrassment.

"Come on, Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari are going to be at the monument at any second." Naruto says.

Sakura blushes more. "Okay."

_Hell YEAH!_ Inner Sakura yells.

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"Hinata, we're there already." Kiba says.

"Really… Huh, time really does pass qu- Temari-san!" Hinata cries, hopping off Akamaru, and running the rest of the way.

Akamaru, carrying Kiba, trots up to the two girls.

Sakura and Naruto walk up to the five people (…and Akamaru).

Sakura immeditally freezes after spotting Gaara.

"Ga-Gaara-kun!" Sakura yells.

Gaara turns towards Sakura, and raises his eyebrows.

"Gaara-kun!" Sakura runs up to him and hugs him.

Gaara freezes, looking at anybody for advice or help, which nobody gives him.**(Those bastards:) )**

"Uh, nice to see…you too…Sakura…" Gaara says patting her on the back uncertainly.

_Oh yeah, that's right Sakura, a pat on the back. NICE. He LOVES you! _Inner Sakura yells.

"Shut up." Sakura mumbles out loud to Inner Sakura.

" Uh… okay?" Gaara says, bewildered.

Sakura was about to say 'No, not you! My inner voice!' but, that sounded alittle on the insane side, and she was pretty sure Gaara didn't 'dig' insane girls…or did he?

"Oh no, Gaara, look out, it's Lee… He'll KILL you." Kiba says.

"What? Really?" Gaara asks, wide eyed, watching Lee bounce ever closer to him.

" Not literally, but, yeah, he'll kill your insides with his speech, run, Gaara, run. Run far away." Kiba says.

" But I just got here." Gaara says, Sakura still squeezing the life out of him.

"It doesn't matter, run FAR away, run as fast as you can…" Kiba says dramatically.

"RUN GAARA, RUN!" Hinata screams in mock horror. **(GASP! I used the same word TWICE in my story! Starts screaming bloody murder)**

_ENDCHAPTER!_

Alright guys, now here are some details, for the story: The Rookie 9 are all 18, Team Gai is 19, Gaara is 18, Kankuro is 19, Temari is 20 (?) Now Akamaru is a big a large two (perhaps three, if its possible) seater motercycle by now folks, so, no problem that Hinata and Kiba were riding him. If he was smaller, Kiba and Hinata would probably smash Akamaru, which would suck for all of them, but mostly Akamaru.

Now guys review, I like em, you probably like em, so, review, please. Tell me if you want me to continue, but, if I get a good idea for this, I'm gonna continue it.

So, merry happiness to you guys!

Remember guys, red rum!

Bye!


	2. Chapter 2

**Hiya! Alright guys, here's the not so long awaited chapter 2! Yay! Aren't we all just so happy? I am, and am sorta not, because school… yes, school HOMEWORK, the dreaded word of all authors. Just to let you guys know, you should probably read all of my beginning authors notes, who knows what information I will give out about the story?**

**Bit o' information: I forgot that Gaara has no eyebrows, so, now I must come up with some tale of his obtaining eyebrows. Plus, Kiba and Hinata are not in love with each other yet, neither are Gaara and Sakura, but, if you wait, love will practically hit you in the head and knock you out if you look for it in the story.**

I do not own Naruto yada yada, I had a cookie yesterday but I ate it… Okay, now that that is said, on with the fic…

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As Lee bounces closer and closer, Gaara begins to get nervous, sweating and the like.

Gaara begins to sweat so much that Sakura's grip on him loosens quite a bit.

Watching this thickly eyebrowed, green clad man (**that rhymes!) **bounce towards them was getting to be to much for poor Gaara, that and the fact that Sakura was squeezing him so tightly that he might as well have a noose around his whole body.

Yes, Gaara now had eyebrows of his own, but, still, a green clad thick eyebrowed guy is pretty scary, that is Gaara's version of the boogie man. The only thing keeping Gaara from yelling "It's the boogie maaaaaaaaaaan!" Was shear pride, and that his air was cut short, so, he really couldn't get enough air to yell.

"Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaraaaaa-saaaaaaan!" Lee calls in a sing song voice.

"Leeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-san, shut uuuuuuuuuuuuuuupppppppp!" Naruto sings back.

"Oh, Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaraaaaaaaaaaaa-saaaaaan, and saaaaaaaaaaaaaand siiiiiiblings!" Lee sings.

" Okay, cut it out." Temari says, breaking the singing curse.

" Gaara-san!" Lee says, taking one final bounce towards the group.

"Gaara, when did you get youthful eyebrows?" Lee asks, inspecting Gaara's lovely thin eyebrows.

" Well, 17 was a great year for growing." Gaara says. Gaara, in fact, had gotten a few inches taller, about 5 to be precise, over the time he hadn't seen or heard from the rookie 9 or team Gai.

Sakura completely releases her grip of death on Gaara, backing up, and admiring his wonderful eyebrows.

"Gaara-kun, they're bueatiful!" Sakura says.

"Erm…Thanks?" Gaara says, confused. He had heard that line used before, but never was it to describe eyebrows.

"Wow, I'm surprised you guys noticed so quickly, it took Kankuro half of the day to notice that they had finally grown in, it took Temari **_3_** whole days to realize it." Gaara says, giving a slight glare to Temari.

"Look, Gaara, we were raised in a family that didn't focus on eyebrows, knowing that, why would I keep a record of wether or not your eyebrows had finally grown in?" Temari sighs.

"You're right Temari, wait, a minute, how long did it take for me to figure out that you were having mood swings? Three hours!" Gaara exclaims unhappily.

"Well, duh, Gaara, that's pretty easy to figure out, seeing as when I made pancakes, Kankuro ate them, told me they were good, I smiled, then I threw the frying pan at him and broke down into hysterical sobs. Of course I was having mood swings, Kankuro knew that the moment the pan hit his head." Temari explains.

"Well, actually, no, I didn't, because a second or two after the pan hit my head, I went unconscious.The first thing I thought when it hit my head wouldn't have been 'Mood swings.' It was along the lines of 'Ow, that really hurt, never compliment Temari again.'" Kankuro corrects.

"Ugh, fine, whatever." Temari says.

**Cough cough **Gaara coughs. "It's nice to see you too Sakura." Gaara says.

**_And may I say that you look more beautiful than my eyebrows do. _**Inner Gaara says.

'Oh my god, what was that!' Gaara thinks.

'Ello Gaara! Guess who? "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Gaara yells. Sakura backs away. Great job Sakura, you scared him. Inner Sakura groans. 'Was it my breath?' Sakura wonders, putting her hand up to her face, breathing into it, sniffing it. 

'Nope, not my breath, it's minty fresh.' Sakura confirms.

"Oh, sorry, I thought I saw a, um, bear! Yeah, I don't like bears." Gaara lies.

" Yeah, okay Gaara." Kiba says, raising his eyebrows (**which originally do exist, so I don't have to make anything up! Yay!**)

"Hey, why don't you guys go with us to the Ramen Shop? Kiba and I were going to go together later this evening, anyway." Hinata offers, smiling at Lee, Kiba,Gaara,Naruto,Sakura, Temari, and Kankuro.** (A lot of people to be smiling at, huh?)**

"Yeah, that sounds great!" Naruto says.

"Alright, I'm in." Kankuro shrugs.

"I'll go." Temari answers.

" Okay." Gaara and Sakura say.

"Oh, Gaara, that reminds me, you are a returning youth to Konoha, so, I must give you the 'Returning Youth' speech." Lee says thoughtfully.

Gaara looks at Kiba and Hinata helplessly as Lee guides him to the Ramen Shop, preaching his 'Returning Youth' speech.

Endendendendendendendendendendendendendendendend 

**Yay! Another Chappy in da bag! Whoopie! Isn't this perfect, updating so soon, right? I'll leave you with a question: How do you think Kiba and Hinata and Sakura and Gaara fall in love, who will fall in love, or start dating, first? I assure you, I've figured it out for the most part, but, I want to see if you guys can come up with anything better than what I've got. Will Gaara survive this 'Return of the youth' speech? Who knows? (I do).**

**Okay, please review! It makes me update fast, like this time. **

**TGIF**

**Merry happiness on this night that just happens to be a merry happy Friday!**

**Red Rum! **


	3. Chapter 3

I DON'T OWN NARUTO! DAMN IT! I had chocolate but I ate it, and now I don't have it! Double damn it!

**On…to…the… FIC!**

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"Lee! Let the guy breathe! He's had enough of the 'Return of Youth' speech to last him forever! Jeez!" Kiba says to the green clad youth preacher.

"All in good youth, dear youthful Kiba, all in good youth!" Lee says.

'Gai-sensei, you would be so proud if you knew how long I preached youth to the Returning youth of Gaara-san!' Lee thinks, tears streaming down his face.

"Uh, Lee, you okay man? I didn't mean to make you cry…" Kiba says, scratching the back of his head nervously.

"Ah, youthful Kiba! I was not crying over your comment! It was completely random and for Gai-sensei!" Lee declares proudly.

"Er…Great!" Kiba says uncertainly.

" Lets order already, we've practicly talked our waiter into a coma. Oh, wait! Oh, no, he's not in a coma, he's not even breathing!" Hinata exclaims.

"Stand back! I'm a medic nin!" Sakura says, shooing the others away.

"Ah, Sakura-chan…We already knew that." Gaara says.

**Hear that Sakura, he already knew that! He loves you!**

"Shut up." Sakura mumbles.

"Uh…okay?" Gaara says, raising his very raisable eyebrows.

" Er…not you! I was talking to…um…Kiba! Shut up you half-wit! Assuming YOU of all people made Lee-san cry!" Sakura says desperately.

"Hey!" Kiba says, a vein bulging on his forehead.

" You would've made the same mistake!" Kiba accuses.

" Nu-uh! Cause I know what makes Lee cry at random moments! And that just happens to be Gai!" Sakura counters.

"Duh, you would know that because he just told us!" Kiba responds.

" I also cry at random moment when cats are around, but, I think that's because I'm allergic to them, not because I think they're proud of me." Lee says, shrugging.

Everyone takes a moment to look at Lee strangely before a fully blown fight of words between Kiba and Sakura!

" Ah! You are soooo stupid sometimes, Kiba! I was obiviously not talking to you!" Sakura yells.

" Yeah, I guess, you were just talking to some random passerby named Kiba!" Kiba yells back.

"Nooo! I was talking to, uh, Naruto! I just said it was you because I thought Naruto would get angry!" Sakura lies.

" That doesn't make sense! Naruto didn't say anything!" Gaara says.

" That's true." Kankuro says. Temari nods.

" I knew that Naruto was thinking something perverted and was going to say it out loud!" Sakura 'explains.'

" It still doesn't make sense! Why tell me to shut up when it was Naruto thinking something perverted?" Kiba asks.

" Because I got mixed up?" Sakura says.

" Well, that's good enough for me!" Kiba and Gaara say at the same time.

Hear that, Sakura? That's good enough for him! Wooooohooooo!' Inner Sakura says.

" It's not good for me!" Naruto complains.

" It's good for me. Besides, it's true for you, seeing as you are stupid AND perverted!" Kiba says. Naruto glares.

" I gotta heal the waiter first, before we can order." Sakura says, answering Naruto's question before he can even ask it.

"Okay." Sakura takes a deep breathe, he hands hovering above the waiter.

She brings her hand up, and smashes it down on the waiters chest. The waiter opens his eyes, gasping for air, looking around paranoid –ly.

" Hey, even I could've done that!" Naruto says.

" Yes, you could've, but, you couldn't have done that without being charged for assult on another Hidden Leaf Village ninja." Sakura says proudly.

" Uh… he's a waiter." Temari says.

" He could be a waiter ninja!" Naruto says excitedly. "Oooooh! We can call him the waiting ninja!"

"Well, it still goes, an assult is an assult unless you're on a mission or a medic nin." Sakura says.

" So, you medics can get away with assult?" Kankuro asks, making a face.

" Temari, you should become a medic!" Kankuro exclaims.

"Haha, well, you're gonna need a medic soon!" Temari says dramatically.

" Huh? But, I'm fine!" Kankuro says, confused.

"Not for long!" Temari says, cracking her knuckles. Kankuro gulps slightly, then smiles.

"Gonna get another frying pan, Tem?" Kankuro asks slyly.

"Ahhh! You, die!" Temari commands.

" Sorry, Tem, but, I'm afraid I don't have the ability to drop dead at will." Kankuro smiles.

**ENDOFCHAPTERENDOFCHAPTERENDOFCHAPTER **

**Uh-oh, bro sis fight! Kankuro, in the hospital, Temari at Madison Center! Coming soon? Okay, officially, KibaHinata and GaaraSakura is it, as for other pairings, it's up to you to tell me what they are, most votes for pairings, wins the pairing, though, none of the votes can involve Kiba, Hinata, Gaara, or Sakura! Guys, review! I didn't update for a while cuz of SCHOOL! Ugh, I really don't like the work in school! Man, if they would just set a computer and Keyboard in front of me and say " Type! Anything, just TYPE!" I would be unable to type because I was so happy! Sorry, nothing important in beginning authors note, maybe later! Fudgies! I foregot the Kiba Hinata I think I promised last time! Shooooooot! So sorry! This was kinda GaaSaku, just a little! I promise I will update soon! And a longer update! And not so stupid!**

**Freshness and spins for all of you! Now plug it in plug it in!(That meaning: Review please! GIVE IDEAS! NEED A BOOSTER IDEA TO START OFF NEXT CHAPPY!)**

**Snips and snails and puppy dog tails guys! I'll give you all of those things! Except the snips, because I don't know what those are! But! I DO know what snails and puppy dog tails are! (pats self on the back).**

**RedRum!**


	4. Chapter 4

Yo! Guys, how are ya! I'm good, because I saw something absolutely awesome this weekend! Oh, and if you don't like it, please don't judge me, hehe, see, I don't go into other people's stories and when they say 'Oh, I saw this great movie called Blah-Blah-blah!' I don't say, 'Nuh-uh! That movie is horrible! You suck!' So, please don't do that to me! Yeah, last chappy I found, after going over it, seemed kind of hurried, so, I gotta make up for that! Oh, and guys, take a guess as to what you think I saw that was so fantabulous (that is an actually word!), and, you can either tell me the truth or lie saying 'I totally was wrong' or 'I totally was right (pfff, yeah right you did)'

Oh, oh,oh! Disclaimer:I do not own Naruto! I don't even own a candy bar…Yet! I might get one later!

On with the fic…

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"Temari! Take it easy!" Kiba says, holding Temari back while Kankuro just sits there.

"Must get Kankuro…to die!" Temari says insanely.

"No Temari! Just picture little kittens when you feel like kicking him! It works for me! Oh, wait, when I picture kittens, I just want to kick the person more." Kiba says.

Everyone stares at him in disbelief for a second.

"Hey people! In my defense, I have never kicked a kitten, though, I don't suppose fantasies count…" Kiba points out.

"Oh, that makes it much better." Gaara says sarcastically.

" Must kick little kitty, must kill the kitten!" Temari chants, eyes wide.

" No! Picture a dog!" Sakura says, trying to be helpful.

Temari's gaze turns…to Akamaru!

" Must kick the dog…I must…kill the dog!" Temari mummers, approaching Akamaru.

" Jeez, Temari is really easily influenced in this state." Hinata says.

"We could just convince her to kick a chair or something, then, it's done." She adds.

"Well, hurry up!" Kiba says, scooping Akamaru up, away from Temari's kicking range.

" Picture a chair!" Naruto shouts.

"Yes, kick…kill the chair." Temari says, socking her chair over and over.

"Temari! It's dead! It's okay!" Sakura yells, drawing nervous glances from other customers.

"Huh?" Temari falls on her butt, snapping out of it. "W-why am I on the ground? Why is my chair on the ground?" Temari asks.

"Because you fell out of it." Hinata lies.

" Can we order _yet_?" Gaara asks.

"Fine, let's order." Kankuro says.

" I'll have miso ramen!" Naruto yips.

" I'll have beef!" Kiba tells the waiter.

" Me too." Hinata says,

" I'll have vegetable." Sakura and Gaara say in unison.

"Beef." Kankuro grunts.

" Yeah, beef." Temari decides.

" I will have youthful beef!" Lee hollers.

Soon, all eight of them are slurping up their ramen, (not Akamaru, cause he can't slurp up anything) and they can finally go a few minutes of normalness before Lee talks.

" There's a youthful cat near by." Lee says. "I know this because my youthful eyes are watering and they itch! But, I must not itch them, for I might blind myself or gouge them out!" Lee declares.

" Uh, yeah…That's cool Lee." Kankuro replies.

" Yeah, it is cool! It's like a cat radar! Now, if Lee is with us, we'll always know when a cat is near! Waita go Lee!" Naruto yells happily.

"Wow, I never thought of it as a youthful talent! I always just took it to mean 'Quick! Get out! A cat is coming, and if you stay around it too long, your throat will close up and you'll die!'" Lee exclaims.

Silence

Crash!

"Oh no! My ramen… it's on the floor." Hinata says awkwardly.

"Here Hinata, you can have the rest of mine." Kiba says, pushing his bowl towards her.

"Don't worry, I don't backwash, I only do that when only Naruto and I are here, because he used to steal my ramen." Kiba says.

" But, I still steal your ramen!" Naruto says, then, comprehension dawns on him, a sour look crossing his face,

Everyone shudders.

"Thank you Kiba-kun!" Hinata chirps (Some of you people have no idea how hard it is to think of different ways to write say or says).

"Welcome Hinata-chan." Kiba shrugs.

Naruto looks from Kiba to Hinata, then opens his mouth.

"Ooo-" Sakura's hand slaps over Naruto's mouth.

" What was that?" Kiba asks, Hinata looks around.

" Nothing, it was the wind." Sakura says, quickly, nearly suffocating Naruto, who was pulling frantically at Sakura's hand.

Naruto finally pries Sakura's hand off his mouth, gasping for air.

"Yikes." Kankuro says. " You know, Naruto, she could've gotten away with killing you."

Naruto shivers. " Yeah, I know, every night I wonder if it'll be my last, and, the next night, I thank God that I made it through another day."

Kiba scoots away from Sakura, in fact, he scoots soooo far that he knocks into Hinata and scoots himself and Hinata right off the booth.

Hinata saves herself from the fall, while Kiba falls on his face.

Hinata reaches for the table top, but, at the same time, the waiter comes out with a pot of ramen.

"Alright guys, some of the customers put their money together to get you guys a pot of ramen for entertaining them. So if anyone wants seconds, you can – Oh holy noodles!" The waiter screams, seeing Hinata's hand trying to grab the table top. This startles the waiter soooo much, that he accidentally tips some of the boiling hot ramen broth over the table, onto Kiba's back.

"AIIIIEEEEEE!" Kiba yells in surprise and pain (come on!You'd be in pain too id someone poured boiling hot broth on your neck and back!).

" Oh…dear lord." The waiter says, the customers applauding the 'preformance.'

ENDCHAPTERENDCHAPTERENDCHAPTEREND

Hey guys! Okay, the awesome thing that I saw was…(drum roll please)… I said drum roll! (drum roll) The awesome thing that I saw was… Final Destination 3!

Introduced to me by a friend who had a friend who watched the movie and said it was awesome! So…I watched it with mah friend, and, we loved it! Hey, I can't help it if we tend to love awesome movies, now can I? Now, tell me what cha thought it was, what you think of the movie (if you've watched it) and if you haven't watched it, please, think about watching it! I learned a new word, and, sure as hell I'm gonna use it! I thought it rocked, in the most profound way! Kay guys, next chappie, may not be coming super super soon, because of SCHOOL and the fact that I go there, yes, it sucks, I know, the school thing.

Ideas for next chappie? To begin it?

See ya guys.

Red Rum!


	5. Chapter 5

**Okay guys! I do not own Naruto, big shocker, seeing as I'm dirt poor! You know, I did actually get a candy bar, and I haven't eaten it yet! Yays for me, eh? I don't have much more to says, so, on with the fic!**

**1234Wait567for890the123drunken456Sakura7890Haruno**

"Kiba! Are you okay?" Hinata asks.

"Yeah, I'm okay…" Kiba mumbles as the clapping dies down, Kankuro and Hinata pull him back into the booth as if he was crippled.

"Alright guys! Let's eat!" Naruto yells, ladling Ramen into Sakura's bowl first.

"Opps!" Naruto says, dropping the ladle, Sakura watches, happily slurping her noodles.

"Man Sakura! You're making me hungry!" Naruto whines as he wipes the specks of dirt off the ladle.

"Mmmmmm!" Sakura says, savoring the noodles.

" This is really good!" Sakura says.

" Cheers!" Kiba says, slurping up the ramen as soon as Naruto ladles it into his bowl.

Thud!

Kiba looks over at Sakura, whose head was down on the table, then, at her completely empty bowl.

Sakura's head pops up like a pop-tart in a toaster.

"Hiya! Man! I feel great, what about you!" Sakura yells.

Kiba spits out the ramen that he had just slurped up.

"Hey! That's rude! It's good ramen people!" Sakura screams at Kiba.

"I…Think Sakura is…is drunk." Gaara says nervously as Sakura leans into him.

"Gaara-kun! Wow…I mean…Wow…" Sakura says to Gaara.

"What?" Gaara asks, confused.

"You…You're… Beautiful…" Sakura says in his ear.

" What?" Gaara asks, utterly astonished.

"I THINK YOU'RE HOT!" Sakura yells.

Gaara shrugs. "But, I don't feel hot." Gaara says.

"Oh Gaara, but you are, don't let your… feelings tell you otherwise!" Sakura pleads.

"I…won't?" Gaara answers, questioningly.

"Gaara! You don't get it! I like you!" Sakura cries.

" I like you too, Sakura." Gaara replies.

"OH! You still don't get it! I like like you!" Sakura screeches into his ear.

"Er… okay?" Gaara responds, not knowing what else to say.

" Gaara-kun!" Sakura says, breaking down into drunken sobs.

"Er…Waiter! Take this ramen away! It's got A LOT of sake in it." Hinata says.

"My apologies miss Hinata." The waiter says, taking the pot of ramen away.

"Sakura, shhhh, it's okay." Gaara says, trying to calm her.

"My…my head…it huuuurts." Sakura says, crying into Gaara's shoulder.

"I'm a disappointment!" Sakura bursts out suddenly in sad comprehension.

"To… Naruto… and, at first to Sasuke…that's why he left… and now he's gone…and, now, I'm going to make you all leave too!" Sakura cries.

"No, you aren't a disappointment, Sakura! You didn't make Sasuke leave! He was just a selfish bastard (sorrys to Sasuke fans, I need to use him for that, again, sorry!), he left on his own stupidity. I'm not leaving, no one is, not because of you, or anybody else." Gaara says soothingly, embracing the crying Sakura.

In the backround, a few woooooohooooooo's could be heard.

Sakura sniffs, giving Gaara a smile. "Thank you Gaara-kun." Sakura sniffs.

" You're welcome Sakura, just tell me if you ever need anybody, I can help you." Gaara says, returning the smile.

"Thank you."

"More ramen guys, they loved you." The waiter says, bringing a pot over.

"I get first dibs!" Kiba yells.

"No fair!" Naruto yells back.

"I called it, so, it's fair!" Kiba replies, ladling himself a whole bowl full.

"Well?" The waiter asks after Kiba downs a spoonful.

"It's really good." Kiba announces, slurping the noodles.

"Well, with the other customers' money, we could get you the best ramen in the house!" The waiter informs.

"Kiba, don't cha think you should slow down, you'll choke to death." Hinata warns.

"Nope." Kiba grins.

"A customer helped make it." The waiter continues.

"Really? Not a regular maker?" Kankuro asks.

"Yeah, I know, strange, but, he said he wanted to help." The waiter sighs.

"Though, he seemed kinda darkish to me, but, we can't turn him down, can we?" The waiter shrugs.

"Darkish?" Temari says, surprised.

"Yeah, he was odd, had a kinda dark look about him. Wore a shirt I would've thought wasn't from around here. Had a purple rope belt, too." The waiter describes.

"What?" Naruto says sharply.

" Yeah, black hair, slittish(1) eyes, yellow, if I remember right." The waiter says, scrunching his face to remember.

Kiba looks up from his finished bowl of ramen, feeling kind of light headed.

Upon hearing yellow slitted eyes, he immediately knew the conversation was moving to Sasuke, or, now, Orochimaru.

Suddenly, Kiba's light headed feeling was increased by nausea, and the feeling of the sickening weight of chakra depletion setting in.

"I-I think there's…whoa…" Kiba slurs, vision blurring.

"Kiba! You okay?" Gaara asks, Sakura looking alertly at Kiba.

Akamaru starts barking.

"I…feel like my chakra is…gone…I think…there's something in this ramen…" Kiba slurs outs slowly.

" Does your head feel weird?" Hinata asks.

"Yeah… It feels like it'll explode." Kiba responds.

"How's your eyes?" Gaara asks.

"I can't see anything now."

"Hey, listen, did the person who wanted to help have dark hair, really pale skin?" Lee (I haven't mentioned him all the time, so, basically, he went to the bathroom, and took a while, and came out to the conversation) asks, seriously.

"Yes, why? What's the guy's name?" The waiter says, watching Kiba nervously.

"Kiba! Are you still awake!" Hinata asks.

"Kiba!"

"Well, he used to go by the name of Sasuke Uchiha. Why? Because, this was an attenpt he made at murder."

**_ENDENDENDCHAPTERCHAPTERCHAPTERENDTHECHAPTERENDOFTHECHAPTER_**

**Jeez, dramatic!**

**Oh, by the way, slittish (slit-ish), not shitish, it may look that way at first folks, but, it isn't. You know what slitted eyes mean, right?**

**I just love the way I've made the waiter talk, I don't know why, it just has a nice ring to the story, doesn't it?**

**What did you think? Drama filled? Did I make you proud that I used part of your idea, rynnsloveless? Ideas please! Do you think this is the beginning of the end of Gaara, Sakura, Kiba, Hinata, Naruto, and Lee? Answer please! Friday night, man! Yays!**

**I'll update as soon as I can, it just so happens that I was inspired to write tonight!**

**RedRum!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey, sorry guys, I haven't been updating lately, mainly because it's football season and school, that's right! And stupid homework has been pouring my time through the hour glass at 100 mph, leaving me zero time to write.**

**I HAVE COOKIES! YAY! DISCLAIMER:I DO NOT OWN NARUTO, UNFORTUNATELY FOR ME AND ALL THE KIBAHINATA GAARASAKURA FANS!**

**ON WITH THE FIC!**

**ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXZ1234567890SASUKEISBAAAACK**

"Shiiiiit, I'm sorry, I shoulda thought to check the guy." The waiter curses, looking at Hinata apologetically.

"It's okay, you didn't know anything." Gaara says. Normally this may have sounded like an insult, but, the waiter was too freaked out to even think about what it may have sounded like.

"Shiiiiiit, oh shit. Crap, now he's gonna die… damn, I don't deal well with seeing people suffer." The waiter says, becoming hysterical, and clearly not himself.

"He's gonna suffer, and I'm gonna get in trouble with boss for a customer dying. I'm going to get sued, aren't I?" The waiter asks.

"Not unless Kiba completely loses it, and goes out of his way to sue you, and, seeing as he's in the condition he's in, I don't think he could even say he's suing you. Though, that would be an amazing feat… of stupidity!" Gaara says, trying his best to be comforting to the waiter, also saying 'of stupidity' at the end because Temari elbowed him in the ribs.

"Sakura, stop it, I don't think a medic nin can heal poisoning, not even a drunk medic nin could do that." Naruto says, trying and failing to comfort Sakura.

"Why now when we aren't fucking prepared?" Naruto asks nobody.

"Hinata see if anybody we know is around, or if there's a hospital super close, I'll go get someone." Naruto says, losing all memory of the locations of the hospitals in Konoha.

"TenTen is at the monument with Neji, and Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji are having lunch at the Local Food Court." Hinata says. " The nearest hospital is a half mile away." Naruto nods before disappearing. A few agonizing minutes later, Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji run into the Ramen stand, followed quickly by Neji and TenTen.

" What the hell Kiba? Naruto said something about Ichiraku, Sasuke, and ramen, then ran off. What the hell is going on? Is this one of Naruto's stupid jokes, because, it's not funny, at all." Neji says, watching the withering Kiba with distaste, sure of the non-existent prank.

"This isn't a joke, Neji." Lee informs.

"Fine, what is it, a play? Because, I'm pretty sure that if this was real, the customers wouldn't be applauding." Neji points out. True, the customers were applauding.

"Did you ever think that they could be sadistic?" Lee says, desprately.

"Yeah. I suppose they would start laughing, applauding, and whistling if Kiba spilled hot ramen on his back.(1)." Neji says, jokingly.

"Yes! They did, how did you know?" Lee says.

" Pff! Cut it out, now. This is a swell little play you've put together, but, I don't want to see it." Neji says, about to leave.

"They're stupid." Lee blurts out, earning a few boo's.

"Please, Lee, who could be so stupid to mistake death for an act?" Ino asks.

"They could, and, oh, you guys could be, too." Lee says. Ino stares at Lee with deadly intent.

"Shut up Lee, if anyone is stupid here, with such a weird hairstyle and out of style clothes, it would be-"

"You." Lee interrupts, making Ino go bright red.

"Cool it, Ino. Lee, shut up." Kankuro says. Ino turns an even deeper shade of red, if that was possible.

" But, Kankur-"

"Lee, don't even try, they won't listen to reason. Ino just can't because she's too blonde." Kankuro says lazily.

"Kankuro." Shikamaru warns.

"Shikamaru." Kankuro mimics. "Seriously, she won't listen to reason, she's too blonde, even too blonde to realize when something is real and when it's fake." Ino fights against Chouji and Shikamaru to get at Kankuro.

"You stupid doll wielding-"

"Wielding? I'm surprised you know such a big word, seeing as you can't get the concept of something as big as truth is. Truth isn't even as big a word. Who taught you it? Your mommy? Or maybe Shikamaru, because he's such a genius. Oh, wait, he can't be a genius if he doesn't know reality if it's pissing in front of him." Kankuro says, cleverly.

This time both Shikamaru and Ino turn red.

"Oh, and there's Chouji over there, figuring out what to eat, he doesn't even know what we're talking about. Now Neji is practicing the fate speech for the next unfortunate person to ask what his problem is. All he really has to say is fate and move on, but, he has to compose a speech, doesn't he? You don't know anything about fate, dumbass, for godsake, you don't even know what real looks like." Kankuro exclaims.

"Shut up." TenTen says.

"Me, or were you talking to Neji? Cause you must be bored of his droning. I am, and he just started talking." TenTen takes a swing at Kankuro, but misses in her anger.

"You just missed because you were probably thinking of the latest store, Weapons and Such. You probably aren't even angry because I insulted Neji, you're probably just covering your ass." Kankuro spits.

TenTen makes another swing, but, it doesn't miss.

"Huh, maybe you are truly angry that I insulted your friend." Kankuro reasons, tasting the blood in his mouth.

**She sure punches hard, she must be p.o.ed.** Inner Kankuro says.

"But, hey, picture this: Neji, here, withering at your feet, but nobody believing that he's actually dying, so, nobody helps. Or, Chouji, about to bite the dust, and everyone thinks it's an act. Paints a pretty picture, doesn't it?" Kankuro says, letting the images simmer for a bit.

"Now that you've mulled that over, what do you think, would you be saying what I'm saying?" Kankuro asks, somehow, it seems rhetorical.

Hinata sits down, then shoots into the air, standing up again, for what seems like the 50th time, twisting her wrists pulling at her thumb as if trying to get a crack out of them.

"This is unyouthfully agonizing to wait for Naruto." Lee comments.

Temari unfolds and refolds her fan, over and over again.

"So, this isn't an act?" Neji asks.

"You're finally catching on." Kankuro says sarcasticly.

"Sakura, you're drunk, it can't be helped, plus, if you weren't it wouldn't do any good. You'd be just as bad as Hinata is!" Gaara says. Hinata glares warily at Gaara.

"It's true." Gaara says simply, before Hinata resumes her pacing.

" Naruto is taking a while." Temari says finally.

"He might have gotten lost." Sakura says, wide eyed, randomly bursting into sobs.

"Er…You said Sakura was drunk?" Ino says, worriedly, trying to comfort Sakura.

"Yeah, the ramen, it had…Sake in it." Hinata says.

"And Kiba…?" Neji asks.

"He put something in Kiba's ramen." Hinata answers.

"He?" TenTen asks.

"…Sasuke." Hinata says silently. Ino turns very white.

"You mean Orochimaru?" Ino asks.

"Yes." Hinata says.

"So, Orochimaru…Sasuke did this?" TenTen says.

"Man, this sucks. After a year, the first thing we hear of him…He tries to kill us." Shikamaru says.

"Is Kiba moving?" Hinata says.

**This coming from someone with a Byukagan. **Shikamaru thinks.

"Yeah, he is." Neji answers. **_But, what does that mean?_** Neji wonders.

"Don't crowd him." Ino says.

"Damn that bastard." Kiba whispers, exhaling heavily in digust. "It's my own damn fault this thing got so fucked up. I'm supposed to watch out for these kind of things, not have them happen to me. Least this didn't happen to anybody else, then it'd be a crisis."

"Kiba, this is a damn crisis!" Hinata exclaims, trying to stay calm.

"I'm in deep shit, then."

"Holy hell!" Kankuro says, watching blood spurt from Kiba's mouth.

"Hurry up, Naruto." Hinata begs quietly.

ENDCHAPTEReNDOFCHAPTERENDCHAPPYENDOFCHAPPYENDCHAPTER6 

**Hiya guys! I hope this was dramatic enough, and lond enough for lack of update last week. Hehe, I kinda didn't have time.**

**is a reference to chapter 4. I hope this was good and I really hope you enjoyed.**

**Kay, at first I wasn't inspired, but, I got into the grove. I Made Kankuro kinda cool, and gave Lee a good comeback to Ino's retorts.**

**Inspire me guys! Give me some ideas! I like them a lot! Will Kiba kick off? Only I know! Until next time!**

**Amen!**

**RedRum!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Back! I wasn't gone all that long, though. Did you miss me? I doubt it, no one really seems to be reviewing accept for MizuMizu, hats off to her, and WHAT815, who gave me the strangest review I've gotten so far.**

**Thanks to you two.**

**I am going to write a longer chapter than normal.**

**I don't own Naruto.**

**On to the fic…**

**123-456-789-012-345-678-890123456578901234567890Narutoismissingfromalltheaction!1234567890**

"Come on, we can't wait for Naruto anymore, we don't have the time." Neji says, pulling Kiba up, over his shoulders.

"We have to go, now." Hinata states.

"Bu-"

"Sakura, no, we don't have the time." Neji says.

"But, Naruto said-" Sakura begins worriedly, having snapped out of her drunken haze, now in mid-hangover.

"It doesn't matter what he said, actions are what's important." Hinata lashes out, the stress becoming to much for her. "I'm sorry if that's harsh, but, right now, being here when Naruto comes doesn't matter as much as Kiba's life." Hinata finishes, feeling sorry for saying such a thing to Sakura.

Sakura stares in amazement at Hinata for a second, then nods. "Right, sorry Hinata." She says.

"Good, now, let's get going." Neji says about to take off.

"Wait, Neji. Wouldn't it be better not to carry Kiba while he's like this? I think it'd be better used as a last resort." Sakura says, Neji nods, putting Kiba on the ground again.

"So, how is this going to be done?" Lee asks.

"I don't know." Sakura shakes her head.

"Hey, I could… you know, use mind switch." Ino volunteers.

"It's mind switch, Ino, not body switch." Sakura sighs.

"I know that. But, suppose that I'm full on chakra, and, we give Kiba one of these." Ino says, taking outa green pill from Chouji's pocket.

"The whole idea is to save Kiba, not give him a heart attack." Gaara says, recognizing the pill of Chouji's…and it's side effects. Ino lowers her brows, in concentration.

"How about one of his soldier pills?" Hinata suggests.

"Yeah, it's said to make it's user fight for three days and three nights straight. It'll be like a super caffine pill. Nothing like those kids hoped up on Ritalin." Kankuro says.

"I know drom personal experience. Those kids, they REALLY calm down, and are real obedient." Everyone inches away from Kankuro.

"Your own experience?" Ino asks.

"Naw, Dad used to give it to Gaara when ever he started freaking out." Gaara's eyes widen.

"He told me those were good n plenty." Gaara says.

"Ugh, you like good and plenty?" Temari asks.

"Yeah, but, they say they're plenty, thing is, there's never enough of them. I should sue, you know, for false advertising." Gaara says, casually.

"Yeah, give him one of them." Neji says. "Then, as soon as possible, Ino, use the mind switch."

Hinata puts the pill in Kiba's mouth.

"He needs to swallow it, you know." Neji reminds.

Hinata's eyes get big. "Oh."

Neji walks over and shoves the pill down Kiba's throat.

"Hey!" Hinata says, loudly. Neji shrugs.

"Mind switch no jutsu." Ino does the hand seals, her body slumps to the ground.

'Kiba' wakes up. 'Kiba' winces, sitting up, smiling slightly.

"It-" but that's as far as 'Kiba' got, before erupting into yellsof pain and agony.

Suddenly, Ino's body comes to life with movement.

"What happened?" Shikamaru asks.

Ino spits a bit of blood from her mouth. "It… wasn't bearable to be in there." Ino says, breathing hard.

"It took awhile for you to feel it, right, Ino?" Ino nods. "It was because you weren't used to his body the moment you switched. So, his body will be just getting used to having Ino's mind out of it, so, he'll start to feel the pain any second now." Neji muses.

Hinata's eyes narrow. "Jyuuken, 8 strike**(1)**." Hinata whispers.

Hinata strike's Kiba eight times, in different places, knocking him out instantly, before he could feel anything. The striken areas were eight of the major chakra points.

Neji nods in approval **(sadistic, isn't he?)**. "Better to knock out someone you care about than have them suffer." Hinata agreed silently. She believed in that, one-hundred percent, even though she was a gentle person, not just at heart, it was how she was.

"Sorry, Hinata, I couldn't help much." Ino coughs.

Hinata just nods. _Why are people telling ME that they're sorry? I'm not in trouble, they didn't let me, or anyone down. If they need to say sorry to anyone, it's Kiba-kun, not me. _Hinata thinks.

_Wait, did I just call him Kiba-KUN? _Hinata wonders.

**_Yes, you did Hinata. You DID just call Kiba-kun Kiba-KUN, not just a little 'Kiba-kun,' like you always do, it sounded…Different. _**Inner Hinata says.

"Oh my god!" Hinata screams in surprise from hearing a voice. " I must be going crazy, this is too much!"

"Sorry, Hinata. I know how you feel about this, it must be such a burden to bare, with Kiba like this."

_Burden, for ME? Uh, wouldn't it be for KIBA the person who actually HAS the burden to bare, and not me, who just knows the person really really well?_ Hinata thinks.

**_If just one more person says 'I'm sorry,' I'll ripe they're freakin'head off!_** Inner Hinata says viciously.

"What?" Hinata asks herself, outloud.

"I'm sorry Hinata." Everyone mumbles.

**_For what? I don't see Kiba dead… S-sorry??? Sorry!! Time to start ripping! _**Inner Hinata screams.

"Gaara, you can control sand, can't you…?" Hinata asks.

"Sorry Hinata, I didn't bring my gourd, besides, there isn't sand for awhile out here in Konoha. I can't…" Gaara says, shaking his head sadly.

Neji picks Kiba up. "Come on."

Hinata nods, Neji starts walking away, then breaks into a sprint, the rest of the group talking off after him, but a voice stops them in their tracks.

"Hinata?" Shino asks, his face unreadable behind his dark glasses, but, she could tell he was looking over everyone in the group.

"S-Shino." Hinata mumbles.

"What-" Shino starts seriously.

"Hey! Shino, you can control bugs, right?" Kankuro asks, Ino shivers.

Shino nods curtly.

"Can you help us out?"

Again, Shino nods. "With what?"

"Kiba." Behind his shades, Shino's eyes narrow.

"Kiba?" Shino asks, the words 'What happened to him?' were practically hanging in the air.

"Sasuke came back, Naruto went to go get help, but, he hasn't been back yet, so we need you to use your bugs to carry Kiba." Shikamaru explains.

Shino nods, yet again, not revealing how much chakra it would take to keep his bugs from sucking Kiba's chakra.

"T-thank you, S-Shino-kun." Hinata stutters.

'**Hinata's stuttering has started up again… she just completely stopped a few months ago… her confidence may be effected…'** Shino thinks, nodding in a way of accepting the thanks.

For a moment, Shino stands in front of Kiba, concentrating, with nothing happening.

"Nothing's-" Shikamaru clamps his hand over Ino's mouth.

"He's concentrating." Shikamaru whispers, taking his hand off her mouth. She nods.

Slowly, a few insects file out before a steady stream of insects, then a flow of insects pouring out of Shino's body to support Kiba's body.

Ino stands horrified at the sight, Shikamaru and Chouji trying to comfort her, Gaara transfixed at the style similar to his own sand controlling style. Kankuro looks on with mild interest along with Temari. Neji was watching with concentration, TenTen standing at his side in awe. Hinata watches with admiration.

The flow of the insects slows, dying down, until Shino stops, out of breathe, but not showing it.

"Thanks, Shino." Hinata says.

Shino nods.

Guiding the swarm of insects to the hospital, they could finally feel somewhat eased.

--

"Hey!" Sakura yells to the empty front desk at the hospital.

A doctor hustles out.

"Yes, Miss. Haruno?" The doctor asks.

"Can…we get some help… see, Kiba, you know Kiba, right? Well, anyway… He's in need of some… medical help." Sakura says slowly.

"Are you sure you don't too?" The doctor asks.

"Yeah, I'm just having a hang over… Just give me some water and aspirin, and I'll be fine… But, you need to do a little more than that for Kiba… He got poisoned, and it had some weird effects." Sakura informs.

"Okay, just fill out these forms and we can admit him-"

"No, just admit him." Hinata says to the doctor.

"But, you need to fill out the-"

"Admit him first and I'll fill out the forms." Sakura negotiates.

The doctor sighs. "Fine."

--

"So, he'll be okay?" Hinata asks the doctor.

"Yeah, he'll be fine. We just need to suck the poison out of him. It will be difficult, since it's had a lot of time to spread, but, I think we can do it." The doctor smiles.

"So, what was the poison?" Sakura asks.

"It wasn't among the top 5 deadliest, but it would cause a lot of damage. Even with that considered, Kiba could've died."

"Why?" Hinata asks, eyes full of confusion.

"He has different blood than usual… not type… it… it has something extra in it that allows him to do what he does without it being fatal to his body, but, it makes the specific kind of poison he consumed deadly." The doctor struggles for the right words as to not anger the gathered people.

"What?" Hinata asks, astonished.

"His bloodline…it puts enormous stress on his body, maybe his mind also. If he didn't have the extra substance in his blood that makes the blood pump faster and smoother, he would die from the lack of blood, and if he didn't have flexible bones, they would've snapped."

Hinata's confusion is mixed with surprise and slight anger.

"So, if everyone would leave the room, we could proceed with extracting the poison." Hinata and Sakura nod, and tell the rest to leave.

--

'_**Everything is blurry for some reason…What's going on?'** Kiba wonders, vaguely aware that he is awake. **'Last thing that happened…what was that? Okay…feeling like I was going to die… Hinata…blood…Holy! Is Hinata dead?!' **_

"_Hinata…" Kiba whispers out into the dark._

_An extremely bright light ficks on._

"_Ahh!" Kiba yells, his hands shooting to his eyes, knees pulled in instinctively, he flips over, and starts falling into seemingly nothingness until…_

_Thud._

"_Owww." Kiba says, rubbing his head._

"_Yeah, Kiba?" Hinata's voice calls._

"_Are you dead, Hinata?" Kiba asks, deliriously._

"_Yeah, I am, Kiba." Kiba open his eyes to see a blood covered Hinata._

"_Hinata!" Kiba yells._

_Hinata collapses, blood pouring out-_

--

'**Everything is blurry for some reason…What's going on?'** Kiba wonders, vaguely aware that he is awake. **'Last thing that happened…what was that? Okay…feeling like I was going to die… Hinata…blood…Holy! Is Hinata dead?!' **

"Hinata…" Kiba whispers out into the dark.

An extremely bright light ficks on.

"Ahh!" Kiba yells, his hands shooting to his eyes, knees pulled in instinctively, he flips over, and starts falling into seemingly nothingness until…

Thud.

"Owww." Kiba says, rubbing his head.

"Yeah, Kiba?" Hinata's voice calls.

"Are you dead, Hinata?" Kiba asks, deliriously, his head throbbing. Gasping, Kiba remembers what just happened.

"No, I'm not Kiba. How else would I be talking to you?" Hinata asks, concernedly.

Kiba half sighs, half laughs "Yeah, you're right."

"Why'd you ask?" Hinata asks, watching Kiba get up and sit on the hospital bed.

"I…I saw you, then red 'fore I lost it. I also had a dream about it too, Hinata-chan." Kiba says before he can stop himself.

"So, where's everyone?" Kiba asks, changing the topic.

"Outside. Naruto…" Hinata stops.

"What about Naruto? Didn't he get help or something?" Kiba asks.

"Never mind…" Hinata says.

"Hinata." Kiba says firmly. "Where's Naruto?"

"He did go to get help… but, he disappeared… Yesterday."

Kiba eyes widen. "Why hasn't anybody looked for him?" Kiba says, barely containing anger.

"It was late, I mean early this morning when they finally fixed you… It's still very early, Kiba."

"Who cares, there's enough of you." Kiba's voice gives way to anger.

"You have no reason to be angry…If either of us has reason, it's me. You never told me that your attacks are actually hurting you." Hinata says.

"W-what? When-" Kiba starts, astonished.

"The medic told us. I would rather have had you tell us, but, you're so selfish. He told us that what you do puts stress on your body and mind. You should've told us so that you wouldn't have to-"

"This is exactly why I didn't tell you and Shino, or anybody else. You'd all start saying 'Oh, you can't do that anymore, Kiba.' I like what I do, I don't want to sit out just because of that." Kiba points out.

"You like killing yourself?" Hinata says incredulously.

"No, I like being able to do something to help Konoha other than just standing around and watching what the fucking hell is wrong with everything." Kiba retorts hotly.

"Did you ever think that we would understand that? Just that I could possibly be scared that you could die every time you move? Did you ever think of that?" Hinata responds bitterly, feeling like someone completely different was talking through her.

"I'm going to go find Naruto." Kiba says.

"But you just-" Kiba raises his eyebrows at her and shrugs, as if to say 'Are you going to stop me?'

"Ugh, fine. I'm coming, though." Hinata says.

--

"Shhh, we don't want anyone to know we're leaving, just get the window open slowly." Kiba says quietly to Hinata.

"Okay…" Hinata says, easing the window open slowly.

A knock at the door startles her into dropping the lifted window half.

"Kiba? Are you okay?" The door opens.

"Just to let you know we'll be releasing you in 10 to 24 hours-" The medic freezes when he sees Kiba and Hinata sliding the window back open.

"Kiba, you need to stay here for a few more hours." The medic says.

"No, I don't." Kiba says stiffly.

"Jump out." Kiba says out of the corner of his mouth.

"What?" Hinata whispers back.

"Do it." Hinata nods then jumps out the window, the medic shifts on his feet.

"Don't go out yet, Mr. Inuzuka." Kiba's mouth creeps into a smile, making the medic realize his intention to leave.

The medic rushes forward. Kiba jumps through the window.

The medic just making it to the window as it slams shut.

"Okay, Hinata-chan, lets move." Kiba says smiling. This was the kind of thing he loved to do.

"You're loving this, aren't you?" Hinata asks, sounding calmer and softer.

"Yeah, don't you?" Kiba asks, grinning.

"It's a rush… I can't believe you did that. I can't believe _I_ did that." Hinata says.

"I can. All that running from the 'law' thing was bottled inside of you, I know it. It just took this for you to realize how great it was." It was as if the argument never happened.

--

"Naruto!" Kiba yells.

"He's not answering, Kiba. By now, I wouldn't be surprised if one more yell made your throat bleed." Hinata says.

"I know, Kiba says absent mindedly, "but, I can smell him close by. He should be answering." Kiba comments.

"And, yet, he's not. Maybe your nose is malfunctioning?" Hinata says with very slight sarcasm, the feeling took hold of her again: That of someone talking through her.

"Yeah, right. He's real close Hinata. I mean it. At most 15 feet. Why don't you use byukagan?" Kiba asks.

"And we didn't think of that at first." Hinata says.

"I know what I smell." Kiba confirms.

"Really? I thought you weren't sure. You know, just guessing." Hinata says sarcastically, but, fondly.

"He's this way." Kiba says, pointing west.

"I think I see something." Hinata says, squinting, without her Byukagan.

"Yeah, I do too, and it smells like Naruto." Kiba says.

Running up, they find Naruto… Knocked unconscious. A wound, though not serious, was bleeding slightly through his jacket.

"Hinata, you know some medical stuff, right?" Hinata nods, and kneels down over Naruto.

Unzipping his jacket **(not like that!)**, she opens it, exposing his wound to the air.

Just as Hinata reached into her pocket to get medical tape, she notices something written in blood on the inside of Naruto's orange jacket.

"Kiba look." Hinata says, not reading the writing, pulling out the tape, allowing Kiba to read the blood writing.

"Hinata… It says: 'You'll find your death behind you.'" Kiba reads, eyes widening.

Hinata, just finishing up the wrapping of the wound, freezes.

Their hearts speeding up, they look at each other, and begin to turn around.

_**ENDOFTHECHAPTER**_

**Hey, I hope this was dramatic… I worked hard on it… I got stuck here and there, but, I made it through. Akamaru wasn't with Kiba and Hinata because he wasn't allowed in the hospital room.**

**So, please guys, don't disappoint me! Read and Review this time around! I may not update super fast, but, this is a celebration for the end of my horrible first quarter at school! So, read and review.**

**Amen!**

**RedRum!**


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm so freaking sorry! I had something great planned! But my stupid computer died on me, and I lost all of my work! Damn computer! And I haven't updated for a long, long time! I hope I haven't lost all of my reviewers! Okay, here's what I can remember!**

**123576923853907820985907853291655409780989072385684376135542**

Their hearts speeding up, they look at each other, and begin to turn around.

Hinata pushes Kiba out of the way of a kunai knife. He wasn't so much as pushed as forced to roll out of the way.

"Ki-Kiba! He's here. Sasuke is here." Hinata whispers, panicked.

"Where?" Kiba asks.

"I-In the tree behind us." Hinata tells him.

"Act like you don't know he's there." Kiba instructs.

"That'll be a little hard, seeing as he already threw a kunai!" Hinata says.

"No! Don't look at him! He'll know that you know he's there."

Hinata sighs. "Fine."

Kiba feels heat on his back, getting out of the way of the fireball just in time.

"Shit." Kiba grunts, standing up. "Well, plan 'B' I guess."

"There was a plan 'B'? We should've gone with that from the start!" Hinata says.

Sasuke gets down and walks towards Kiba and Hinata.

He looks ruffled, as if he had been in an earlier fight, presumably with Naruto.

He doesn't exactly look like he's at his best, but he wears a superior smile.

"Uchiha." Kiba narrows his eyes.

"Inuzuka, how's being restrained to such limits as Konoha's?" Sasuke says a smug look etched into his features.

"How's being gay for Oro-chan?"

Sasuke's look falters briefly before a smile sets back onto his lips. "It's better than being here with you worn out versions of ninja."

"Shut up! You're just saying that so you won't feel embarrassed about you're love for that homo-snake that you call 'master' so appreciably." Kiba returns.

Sasuke visibly frowns. "I'm seeking power, you dog obsessed mutt, not love. I've got fangirls to restore that. Hell, I can even take Hinata here, she'd gladly help restore my clan to full power." Hinata shudders.

"Your fangirls, as you so 'fondly' call them, don't think much of you, anymore. And Hinata? With you? If you touch her, I would kill you!" Kiba snarls.

"You couldn't. Especially in your condition now. You wouldn't be able to kill me even in perfect physical and chakra condition." Sasuke taunts.

"Try it, then." Kiba snarls.

In a flash, Sasuke was gone. A rush of air and Kiba dodges a would-be punch, but not the kick.

Kiba quickly hits Sasuke with a straight right jab. **(A punch that goes straightforward with the right arm. It allows the user to keep defense while attacking)**

Sasuke lets himself skid back a bit before smiling sickly.

'What a freak.' Kiba thinks, watching Sasuke's sick smile get wider.

"Geju ninpou, hikyaku no jutsu! **(Ninja Art, beast imitation technique)**" Kiba says.

Hinata gasps softly. This was the kind of thing that the doctor was talking about.

Kiba rushes at Sasuke in a blur on all fours.

Sasuke nearly dodges. Nearly. He wasn't used to Kiba's huge increase of speed since he last saw him.

"Shit." Sasuke whispers, being floored by Kiba's punch.

Kiba smirks.

--

"Hey!" Neji yells at one of the nurses. The nurse takes one look at Neji's upset face and changes her direction.

"What's going on? My cousin's been in Room 9 with Inuzuka, Kiba for over an hour, now!" Neji says to the Medic at the front desk.

"You mean no one's told you?" The medic asks. Neji shakes his head.

"Hinata-sama and Inuzuka escaped from the room. I think Inuzuka had some influence over Hinata-sama, though." Neji inhales deeply.

"I'm going to kill you, Kiba." Neji says dangerously.

"I'm not Kiba, Hyuuga-sama." The medic says in a very small voice.

"I know that!" Neji snaps.

The medic whimpers.

" Why do you think Kiba influenced Hinata-sama to leave?" Neji asks, calming down.

"Well…you know." The medic says, shrugging.

"No, I don't. That's why I asked, so answer me." Neji says. TenTen grabs his shoulder.

"Neji, be nice to the medic." She scolds.

"Threatening such youth will not be of much help, Neji!" Lee exclaims.

" Well, you see, he's bold and troublesome." Shikamaru grunts. "She's just too nice and calm to do something so…well, bold." Neji frowns.

"So… You're saying that Hinata-sama hasn't changed at ALL? She's not more confident? Bolder? Is that what you're saying?" Neji tears out bitterly.

"We-ell… I di-didn't me-mean any d-dis-respect… H-Hyuuga-sama." The medic stutters, frightened for his life.

"Neji! Don't yell at the medic! Don't hit him, either! No matter what he says!" TenTen admonishes.

" Yes, TenTen." Neji mumbles, rubbing his hand that had been seconds ago smacked by the blunt end of a kunai knife.

The medic grins slyly. "Ya know… Hiashi was cruel. But, you're even crueler." Neji struggles not to smack the man out of his socks.

"I think you're just a stuck up snob who thinks he's better than everyone else. Even though you're just a BRANCH member!" That was the straw that broke the camels back.

"Ahhhhhh!" Neji yells, lunging at the medic.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" The medic screams, diving under his desk.

"Damn it, you coward! Come out from under there and take your beating like a man!" Neji shouts.

"Youthful Neji! You must stop!" Lee hollers.

"No way!" Neji yells, grabbing the collared shirt of the medic and pulling him from beneath the desk.

"Neji!" TenTen screams.

"What?" Neji mumbles.

"Stop it!"

"But he called me a Branch member snob." Neji reasons.

"Shit… Well, when you stop bickering like husband and wife, we can figure out what happened to Kiba and Hinata!" Kankuro says moodily. They certainly were getting on his nerves.

Neji and TenTen blush.

--

"Homo-chan hasn't been training you correctly, traitor." Kiba mock scolds Sasuke.

Sasuke does nothing to verbally answer Kiba, but a sharp pain shoots up Kiba's back as Sasuke's fist connects with it.

Kiba, slower to react because of this, turns to get a blow to the face.

He winces, and shrugs it off.

Kiba throws a few kunai to distract him, and kicks Sasuke in the side before being caught in the ribs with a short but powerful jab, forcing him back.

Sasuke poofs into a burst of blood.

"What the fuck?" Kiba says, astonished.

Kiba lurches forward, a force ramming into him.

"Shit." Kiba curses, his head colliding with the mud.

Sasuke kicks him in the side, laughing maliciously.

Kiba winces. Sasuke moves in for another attack, but when his fist connects with Kiba's head, 'Kiba' poofs, turning into a stump.

Sasuke receives a punch to his jaw and a swift kick to the chest, slinging mud everywhere.

Sasuke falls back, landing on the ground. A kunai with a note attached follows. The note lights up and explodes.

"How's that, you twisted fag!?" Kiba yells, panting.

"Not good enough." Sasuke replies, striking Kiba hard in the back.

Kiba coughs. 'He's fast. I can barely keep up like this.'

Sasuke moves through the smoke of the explosion towards Hinata.

Kiba grits his teeth and runs after him, delivering a punch, which sticks.

"The hell?" Kiba uppercuts Sasuke, again, his fists stick.

"Let go!" Kiba yells, and then kicks Sasuke. Kiba's foot sinks in.

"Huh?" Kiba tries to get his arms and leg free, but all that happens is a tar-like substance clinging to his skin, making his escape attempt futile.

The real Sasuke races at the ninken user and smashes him hard in the gut.

He hits the ground hard, and the sticky tar-like clone of Sasuke breaks apart, allowing Kiba to just dodge Sasuke's foot.

He flips himself over and hits a good one square at the Uchiha's jaw. Then, Kiba jabs him in the gut a few times before kicking him in the stomach and letting him fall to the ground.

Sasuke trips him and throws a fist into his face.

Blood spurts up, but Kiba ignores it and kicks Sasuke in the chest, sending him back a bit.

Kiba crouches until Sasuke attacks again, and he blocks the hit.

He puts his shoulder into the Uchiha's chest and tackles him to the ground.

He kneels down over Sasuke's figure to hit him, but his body freezes.

"Guess it's effecting you pretty well, now, huh? That's right, Inuzuka. You have to play your cards right, and I played them perfectly." With that said, Sasuke's fist collides with the side of Kiba's face powerfully.

Kiba slips his hand into his pocket and pulls out a pill.

He pops it into his mouth and swallows.

As Sasuke throws another punch, Kiba throws one of his own and it connects with Sasuke's face.

He backs up, the performs a set of hand seals.

"Gatsuuga!" Hinata grimaces inwardly, but looks around for something to help.

Sasuke pulls out several kunai, then throws them.

Though all miss, he's pleased with the result.

The spinning blur of Kiba bashes into the sharingan wielder, but he lands on his feet.

He throws a kicks and catches Kiba in the stomach.

All of a sudden, the area around the explodes...

**ENDCHAPTER**

**Sorry, guys! Damn, I am sooooo sorry! I didn't update for the longest time! And I left you on a cliffy! I'm a sad, sad person! I'll be making another update, soon, too! Very soon, in fact! Review, please, if I haven't lost you!**

**RedRum!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Okay, there may be confusion as to why NaruSaku is a pairing… it's slight… I don't think… well, I really don't know if I'll substitute it for GaaraSaku, but… that's your choice. Vote on it, because both my mind and heart aren't giving me straight answers! Oh, yeah… here's the important part. I NEED to write in past tense now. For some weird reason, I'm not comfortable writing in present tense. I've read too many past tense fics, I suppose. Please bare that in mind as you read this!**

**Oh, and sorry for being late in updating when I said I would update quickly… I got grounded almost immediately after I promised that!**

**Here's another chapter!**

**On to the fic!**

**1234567890**

"What the hell?" Kankuro said, hearing the glass in the window cracking.

He took a look out of it before it shattered and some kind of force blew the glass towards himself and the others.

He shielded his face as the blast swept over them.

For a moment, all was in a panic of glass and wind.

Once it ended, no one spoke for an instant.

"An explosion…" Kankuro mused, having seen the image out the window before the detonation blew the glass frame apart.

"That's what that was?" Sakura asked.

Kankuro nodded.

"What the hell is going on out there?" Neji wondered, his voice dramatic.

Kankuro shrugged. "Explosions, obviously."

Neji deadpanned. "I meant in general… Why are the explosions occurring?"

"It seems pretty eerie." Ino decided.

Sakura agreed. "What do you think they're doing out there?"

"It better not involve harm coming to Hinata, or, I can assure you all this, Kiba will be a dead man." Neji spoke in a deadly tone.

"Well, shit. A detonation like that indicates that Hinata may have gotten some dirt on her ankles. What does over protective big brother say about that?" Kankuro mocked Neji.

"He says, 'Kiba is a dead man,'" Neji repeated.

--

"Sneaky bastard." Kiba coughed, wafting the smoke and airborne dust away.

He heard a twig snap softly. Sasuke wasn't being as careful as he could be, or would be…

'So, that's a trick.' Kiba concluded.

His sense of smell was slightly declined because of all of the dust and smoke in the air, but he trusted it.

He could smell Sasuke, and he was nowhere near where he heard the sound.

Taking a chance, Kiba plunged through the smoke to the ground.

With a clearer view, Kiba could see better closer to the earth.

Sasuke was practically right next to him.

He staggered a bit, and slammed into the other boy.

This definitely took Uchiha, Sasuke by surprise, even if it was an accident.

Kiba took advantage of the accidental element of surprise.

He pulled up his elbow and crushed it down into Sasuke's ribs.

Sasuke was obviously startled, but smiled in his sick, twisted way.

"For once, you didn't act on impulse." He commented.

"It's not the first time since you've been gone." Kiba retorted.

For once, Sasuke's smile completely dripped off of his face, and he even looked forlorn, wistful at the mention of the past.

"Maybe, I haven't known anyone of you since then. It's only natural for me to assume the worst from the worst." Sasuke retaliated after a few seconds.

Hinata started. Was Sasuke actually regretting his choices? Just there, for a second, he wished he hadn't done it?

"Maybe you've been stuck with scum for so long that you forget who is the worst." Kiba answered.

He backed off, a little disgusted with his much former ally.

Sasuke got up casually, dusting himself off.

His casual behavior covered his attack perfectly.

Kiba fell back on his butt and hocked up a mouthful of spit and blood.

'Knocked a tooth out.' Kiba discovered, feeling the empty space. 'That's gonna suck later.'

Kiba sat there for a second, playing with what Sasuke thought was a tooth in his hands.

"You ever going to get up, Kiba?" Sasuke asked.

Kiba shrugged, like a little kid contemplating his favorite dessert.

Out of the blue, the ground below Sasuke shifted.

Suspicious, Sasuke moved, but something smacked into him.

It was, oddly enough, a rock. A very big, very heavy rock hit him.

'The hell?' thought Sasuke. 'Did he just throw a rock at me?'

That was when Kiba shot right at him, quick as a bullet.

In a moment, it felt like Sasuke's jaw was splitting.

Another strange occurrence happened next: Kiba did a fire jutsu.

At close range, Sasuke was unable to dodge.

These people really had improved. A non-Uchiha preformed an Uchiha signature jutsu.

It was hard to believe, especially with them being trapped in a place like Konoha.

Still, he couldn't be too bothered by it. Sasuke burst through the flames and socked Kiba hard in the chest.

Kiba went down too easily for Sasuke's taste, and, because Sasuke had attacked at an angle, caused them to skid along the ground.

Before Sasuke could withdraw his foot, Kiba's hands clasped around it, holding it tightly in place.

When Kiba grinned, Sasuke knew it was no good news.

Sasuke looked around, realizing that this must be a trap of some kind.

Fixing his gaze, Sasuke laughed inwardly, thrilled and disappointed all at the same time that he had been caught.

'Look at that,' he thought to himself with a slight laugh, 'pocket aces.'

**(Yup, another card playing reference. Guess Sasuke's a bit of a poker player… maybe?)**

--

"It's time that we took action." Everyone looked at Shikamaru, surprised.

Behind Shikamaru, Gaara paced. "We should really do something." He continued.

A few breathed a sigh of relief, now knowing that Shikamaru, the relaxed smart fellow, hadn't gone totally out of his laid back tree.

"Gaara's right." Sakura pointed out. "If we do nothing, how do you think this will turn out? If Orochimaru is really in Sasuke's body, then both Hinata and Kiba may not have the best of luck, especially considering how they were when they were seen last."

"What if," Shikamaru put into the conversation, "what if Orochimaru isn't in Sasuke? That would help a lot. Especially considering what you JUST said about how Kiba and Hinata were doing."

A murmur of agreement gusted up amongst the group.

"What do you suggest we do, then?" Temari asked.

"The obvious: We follow their trail. It's really the only thing we can do." Shikamaru said.

"Hey, wait! Did any of you even think of a situation where neither Kiba nor Hinata are involved in? They might just be looking for Naruto!" Ino shrugged.

"Well… I'm guessing all of us were thinking that this is too much to be… well, just be a simple search for Naruto." Gaara concluded from the lack of agreement to Ino's argument.

"Yeah… it would be too much of a coincidence, Ino… Explosions when Hinata and Kiba just happen to be out there, and Naruto being missing is too unlikely. Don't forget, Sasuke is out there, and things like this have a way of following Naruto around. Maybe it started out as an innocent search, but it isn't anymore." Sakura said so firmly that no one had a doubt in his or her mind about the situation anymore.

"Then, it's settled. We'll follow their trail." Shikamaru confirmed.

--

**Hello! Sorry I had to end it there… I had this elaborate plan… but then I realized it wouldn't work…. Oh well! I hope that was satisfying… It didn't exactly end on a cliffy, but it has a cliffy air about it because there are some things I didn't let slip through the cracks, right? Please review, I need some insight here! Thank you to the two who did review! Love of Midoriko and MizuMizu, thank you so much for your support!**

**I cannot promise I will update immediately, but I will definitely update in July… I may be gone by July 10****th**** or 11****th**** for a family thing… then I'll be back sometime in August… if I can't find a computer…**

**RedRum!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey, sorry… the update in July never happened. That's because my mom had a heart attack and my mind was really somewhere else at the time. I'm sure you understand, well, at least, I HOPE you understand. Really sorry that I made a promise that I couldn't keep. Oh, and I still really need some help on whether or not to change the pairing of GaaSaku to NaruSaku… I am a little biased because NaruSaku is in my top favorites, but I still would like some opinions. Thank you for staying with me! Onto the fic before the author's note becomes longer than the actual chapter! Oh yeah, and… since I'm having such difficulty with this, I'm going to say that it's fall in Konoha, now. Sorry, it's gonna be a long one!**

**1234567890**

"Got you." Kiba growled, his voice burying what almost sounded like satisfaction.

Sasuke gave a futile shift of his leg, but Kiba didn't budge. He was most likely enhancing his grip with chakra.

Sasuke sighed. "Seems like it."

The missing-nin glanced at Hinata, who was still tending to Naruto, but was also clearly keeping her ears open.

"Not as easy as Naruto," Sasuke added, looking back at Kiba, "that oaf just was stumbling all over himself. He didn't even suspect foul play… the idiot thought a bee stung him, and by the time he saw me… he would've keeled over if the wind blew the wrong way." Kiba's scowled.

"Bastard. You're too much a coward to face him when everything is fair, let alone face me when it's fair. And Naruto still got you. You just act great, when all you really are is a few cheap dirty tricks and a hard hitter." Kiba accused.

Sasuke glanced at Hinata again to make sure she was listening, she was. Kiba followed his gaze.

"Your opponent is me, not Hinata." He snarled.

"Your trick…" Sasuke glanced around, to see chakra strings wound around trees with special tags on them, all connecting to kunai with the same special tags attached to them, stuck in the ground. "It's complex, but… it indicates that the trap will be directed at the both of us. I never took you for suicidal, Kiba."

Hinata started at that. 'Suicide? That's Kiba-kun's plan?'

'What? I get it… He thinks Hinata will interfere if she thinks I'm committing suicide to get rid of Sasuke…' Kiba realizes.

"No, I'm not. And your stupid manipulating won't fool Hinata or me, so shove it." He said loudly.

Hinata relaxed.

Sasuke rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Damn it… Well, there's always another approach."

"Really? What would that be?" Kiba asked mockingly.

Sasuke stared down at Kiba coolly for a second. Then the Inuzuka cringes, harsh twinges of pain erupting throughout his entire body.

Sasuke's lips twisted. "Chidori. You're touching me, so I can send it through me to you. I'm caught in a trap, but not necessarily helpless. I can and will make this difficult for you, and I can make sure you get the brunt of the attack."

Hinata got to her feet and pulled out a kunai. She sprinted towards the two, kunai in hand.

Sasuke saw this out of the corner of his eyes. 'I didn't count on her getting in the way… Hinata's not the shy, sad excuse of a Hyuuga anymore… but she may be acting a little too impulsively.'

She just about brought the kunai down on a chakra string when Kiba stopped her.

"Don't! If that kunai connects with the strings, it might activate the tags and effect you as well."

Hinata froze in her tracks. She bit her lip, unable to be of any help.

"You really didn't think this through, did you?" Sasuke asked critically.

Kiba glared back at him. "We'll see."

His body went rigid as another charge of chidori surged through him.

"This time it'll be stronger." Sasuke informed as he prepared to send another taste of chidori at Kiba.

"I wouldn't try it. Look." Kiba motioned over to the side.

Sharp bolts of chakra were shooting down the string at them both.

"Damn." Muttered Sasuke.

"Three… two… one." Kiba counted down.

Sasuke's foot hit the rocky dirt, as Kiba was no longer under it. The strings disappeared.

It was a genjutsu, and Sasuke had been caught off guard.

Kiba's shin connected with Sasuke's face hard. Kiba fully extended his kick and the Uchiha went down.

"Ha! That's what you get for not taking me seriously, jackass!" Kiba shouted.

Hinata watched the situation curiously. She had not been able to detect the genjutsu. It was extremely well planned out. Conning Sasuke into believing that he had been trapped in a trap that didn't seem too chakra demanding until the end, and playing off of the absence of Sasuke's sharingan was brilliant for the situation.

No one noticed the blonde kyuubi vessel stirring.

--

"Naruto! Hinata! Kiba!" Sakura called.

"Kiba, I'm going to gut you when I see you, you stupid son of a bitch!" Neji bellowed. **(This statement is sort of fitting, seeing Kiba's mother's likeness to a dog and her being a female).**

"Damn it, answer us!" Kankuro yelled.

"Neji, I don't think that's going to help us. You're going to scare them off or something." Sakura pointed out before erupting into a fit of coughs.

"Whoa, hey… you should really take it easy, there. We can't have our only medic keeling over." Kankuro said, trying to give her a boost, physically and emotionally.

"They just won't fucking answer…" She replied. A root, unseen by Sakura, trips her, and she starts to pitch forward.

Neji and Kankuro both noticed and tried to aid her.

Kankuro, being the closer one, broke her fall.

"Shit." She uttered a little too late.

"I… don't think you're as okay as you think you are." Kankuro decided.

Sakura broke into another fit of coughs.

"Obviously, you aren't." Gaara speculated.

Shikamaru hung back with Shino as everyone else seemed to rush forward to Sakura.

"They shouldn't be too much further, judging by the explosion." Shikamaru informed.

"Right… Didn't you just say that?" Sakura asked.

Shikamaru gave her a look of confusion. "No."

"Oh." Sakura said, looking at the ground.

"At any rate, they'll be close, judging by the explosion." Shikamaru repeated.

"Now you just said that." Sakura insisted.

--

Hinata was no longer standing by Naruto's body, but was by Kiba.

The blonde's eyes opened a little and he turned his head.

'Sasuke. Sasuke, that damn dirty bastard!' Naruto thought. He tried to get up to move, but he ached all over.

It was just like him to pull an ambush like that, outnumbering Naruto.

It seemed Sasuke was getting up after an attack, however.

He was so quick and so cold. In a second, he was already behind Kiba, pulling a kunai out of his back.

The ninken user was stunned.

"You want serious, Inuzuka? Unwise, since there's now fresh poison in your system. Moving around only spreads it more quickly, and if you remain still… it doesn't matter whether you elect to become stationary or keep moving, because the results in the end are still the same. Paralysis. You can take your slower loss of movement, or foolishly, the quick loss of movement." Sasuke turned his gaze on Hinata.

His sharingan flickered on and he approached her.

Hinata didn't flinch as he came, but instead activated her Byukagan and got into her stance.

He flew at her with his astonishing speed, but Hinata struck him in the side before being hit by one of his blows.

She crumbled, and discovered a senbon protruding from her shoulder.

She pulled it out, wincing.

She suddenly found she couldn't get up.

"What-?" She said.

Sasuke folded his arms. "Lack of observation can be fatal. You're lucky that will only make the gravity seem heavier to you and bring out prior physical exhaustion."

Hinata swallowed, eyes fixed on the traitor. Slowly, she stood.

Sasuke watched her with boredom. "Naïve. You think that by not staying down, everything will be okay."

"It's better than giving up and going away because I'm not strong enough." Hinata responded.

That struck a nerve.

Sasuke's eye twitched. "I think you might regret that."

He had barely taken a step toward her when Kiba's fist swung right into Sasuke's mouth.

"You might be a fool, but you aren't a coward." Sasuke commented.

"I think you're both." Kiba retorted.

He tried to block the Uchiha's kick, but the boy was at least two steps ahead of him.

As he reeled back from the blow, he was aware of someone behind him.

He caught the punch and kneed Sasuke in the chest.

Sasuke kicked him in the face and punched him in the gut once he righted himself.

Kiba tripped him, but Sasuke still had the advantage and the cold blade of his katana grazed Kiba's cheek.

Kiba stomped down, but Sasuke moved in time to avoid it, and also take another slice at the Inuzuka.

Kiba barely dodged a katon jutsu. He could feel that he was slowing down. Not good.

"It's hard to be serious when your opponent is so slow." Sasuke feigned a yawn.

'No _fucking_ way. I'm slow because of _you_, asshole.' Kiba thought.

He dove at Sasuke, but he moved and Kiba crashed into the ground.

"Come on. I thought you wanted serious." Sasuke mocked.

Kiba picked up a handful of dirt and flung it into Sasuke's eyes.

Kiba wouldn't get away without a kick in the side. He rolled over just in time to meet Naruto's stare.

'Naruto? Man, he looks like crap.' Kiba thought.

Hinata took a shaky step, planning on assisting Kiba, but her body ached. She couldn't see… her byukagan deactivated.

'What is this that's happening?' she wondered, looking hopelessly at herself, overexerted and exhausted.

A mutual nod was exchanged between Naruto and Kiba before Kiba rose again and charged at Sasuke.

He was stricken in the side of the face, but quickly recovered.

Naruto summoned up his strength, got to his feet, and full out sprinted away.

Kiba tried to keep his attention. He threw a punch, delivered slowly.

Sasuke caught it and threw one of his own.

Kiba, upon hitting the ground, grabbed the Uchiha's ankles, grinning like a man possessed.

Sasuke quickly turned and glared at him. He just about crushed the guy when Hinata came out of nowhere and got in a gentlefist, Byukagan activated once more.

She struck him again, but by then, Sasuke's momentary shock had worn off.

He grabbed her by the roots of her hair and held her in place.

"I don't hit girls very often, Hyuuga. This is an exception." He punched her in the stomach, then in the face.

After the second harsh punch to the face, Hinata stared at Sasuke, seemingly unfazed by any of the acts.

Hyuuga, Hinata had that way about her.

He threw another punch at her.

Blood dripped from her nose to the ground.

"You aren't covering your emotions very well, Sasuke-san." Hinata said.

He cocked his fist back and threw it out of pure frustration.

A hand clenched around his fist.

His eyes only slits, Kiba glared at him.

"Your one mistake was making Hinata bleed. No one gets away with that without me getting even… Gatsuuga!" The tornado like blur of Kiba pushed Sasuke back and tore at his skin.

The rotation slowed down, leaving Sasuke still standing on his feet.

Kiba was in front of him in the blink of an eye, and hit him hard in the face.

Again, Kiba appeared right in front of the sharingan wielder.

He mustered up his strength and hit him again.

He didn't follow the attack up, but stayed in place, panting.

Sasuke pulled himself up and walked towards Kiba, who merely glowered at him.

Sasuke pulled the katana out of the holster and dug the tip into the Inuzuka's shoulder and twisted.

He winced, but didn't budge.

"Was that display really worth paralysis, Kiba?" Sasuke laughed.

Kiba remained mute, literally shaking with anger.

Sasuke pulled the tip of the katana out. He seemed amused.

'Where the hell is Naruto getting help from?' Kiba wondered, anxious for the blonde to get back. He didn't like his situation.

--

Naruto stopped for a breather. Kami, the hospital was far away. It would've been great if it were closer.

He started running again, thinking he would never get there.

No sooner than he had thought that, the hospital came into view.

He stopped at the front desk, heaving and panting.

"Are you okay?" The doctor at the desk asked.

"I'm fine-, it's- just… my friends need-!" Naruto started.

"You're breathing hard… do you need water?" The doctor questioned.

"No… maybe later. Right now I need-!" Naruto was interrupted again.

"You… you have a wound. It's minor, but it should be fixed up to-…"

"No, damn it!" Naruto shook his head in tired disbelief. "Listen. Are my friends here? One of them is a girl… no wait, strike that… there are a few of them… err… do you know of anyone by the name of-?" But, yet again, Naruto was interrupted.

"Yeah… but they went looking for the Hyuuga and Inuzuka."

"Thanks." Naruto said and he ran out of the hospital.

As he ran, he could feel his energy creeping back, little by little.

'I have a feeling that this will be a long day… It doesn't seem likely that I'm just going to trip right over everyone… might as well go back and find Sasuke.' He thought.

--

"Did you notice that we're going in circles?" Sakura asked.

"We are… I've seen that root that you tripped over at least three times." Kankuro mused.

"Genjutsu, probably. Someone is messing with our sense of direction." Shikamaru said.

"We aren't being incredibly observant today, are we?" Gaara stated.

"No… but that's due to all that's happened. We must be trying to cope, and it pushes almost everything else out." Tenten said wisely.

Neji nodded, agreeing. "True, but we really can't afford to waste our thoughts and time on that."

He dispelled the genjutsu.

Sakura immediately turned her head around. 'Naruto?' She thought.

**1234567890**

**End chapter.**

**Sorry that it was so long. I guess I was making up for being gone three weeks and not keeping my promise about the update in July. Review, cause I could use 'em, and I need opinions!**

**RedRum!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry, I did it again, huh? Well, here's an update for the readers who still are around, and maybe something for new readers? I do not own Naruto!**

**1234567890**

Sakura turned her head around. 'Naruto?' She thought.

"What's up?" Shikamaru asked her.

"Oh… Uh, I thought… never mind, it was nothing." Sakura smiled.

The Nara shrugged and trudged on, apparently sulking for being tricked in his own way.

'Maybe it was nothing, but… Naruto…' She pondered.

--

"Finally taken that oath of silence that I always wished Naruto and you would? It's for the better." Sasuke sneered.

Kiba continued to glare, feeling like an idiot.

Sasuke hit him. Kiba expected himself to let out a cry of pain, but didn't.

Apparently Sasuke had thought he would too, and said, "That stuff must be working fast, you can't even speak, unless that's just another one of your mind's inabilities. Maybe your intake of oxygen might just get slow enough to be unable to bear the burden of your pathetic life any longer." He spoke as if he had just received a saintly award.

Kiba took a senbon out of his back sluggishly. If he was going down, he was going to take Sasuke with him.

Sasuke swaggered up to Kiba's form and kicked him in the ribs.

Kiba slid a few feet from impact; almost positive than one of his already sore ribs had cracked. 'Oh well,' he thought, 'nothing that Sakura can't fix.'

Sasuke sauntered over to him again slightly slower than normal, as if mocking him.

His hand squeezed around Kiba's throat, and before he knew it, his body was lifted from the ground completely.

"I thought maybe I should speed up the process." Sasuke jeered.

Kiba's vision was locked into one place and was forced to look into the blood red orbs of the trader.

They were piercing through Kiba's own eyes and penetrating his mind.

He needed to get away from those eyes, that blood covered gaze, lusting for death.

He couldn't.

Kiba had forgotten about the senbon entirely, and had room for only panic in his head.

Why could he still breathe? Did the trader know what kind of internal torture he put Kiba through as the minutes ticked by?

Finally he was having trouble breathing. If only it could strip him of his vision and life sooner. His sanity was screaming for him to look away.

He could hear his blood pounding against his eardrums, his stomach suddenly twisted and knotted, and his heart jolted.

Kiba came to life with movement, wrenching himself from the traders grip, getting away from the Uchiha's cruel eyes.

They were not mangekyo sharingan. No, not kaleidoscope eyes, yet. In them was murderous potential to become that.

'The hell?' Kiba wondered, turning over to face Sasuke.

"Well?" Sasuke said impatiently.

"What?" Kiba bit back.

Sasuke always pictured more of a fight when he killed one of the 'friends' from his childhood, and expected no less from Kiba.

"Are you going to give me a better show before I kill you? I always pictured something… better when I pictured killing the first of you… then again, I never did picture you first. You can even run away. You seem like you would make an interesting chase. I'd give you a head start, of course." Sasuke said in an unmindfully taunting tone.

'Bastard. I'd make an interesting chase? How the hell am I gonna run? It'd do more harm to my pride than it would anything else!' Kiba thought, outraged. 'A head start?!'

Kiba got up and sped at Sasuke.

The Uchiha hadn't expected his enemy to run; that was too cowardly. It seemed Kiba was just as predictable as always.

The Inuzuka was determinedly out of control, reckless, and wild. It was a trait that rarely ceased to amaze.

Sasuke however, quickly snapped himself out of it and swung his right elbow into Kiba's gut.

The sharingan wielder glanced down at the ground impassively before the dirt beneath his feet was ripped through by something that resembled a tornado.

Sasuke grabbed a handful of some material on the top of the cyclone (which he found to be hair) and the rotation stopped.

The Uchiha just threw him at the ground again and stood there, as if waiting for Kiba to give him his best shot.

Kiba got up again, wincing, ready to take another go at his enemy.

He fully erected himself and made another careless dash at Sasuke, not concerned with what the obvious consequences were.

Sasuke kicked him in his aching stomach, ending his acceleration with quite a hard thrust of the foot.

This time, Kiba knew that one of his ribs cracked; he could hear it.

He staggered for a second and then threw a poorly aimed punch. Sasuke caught his arm and twisted it before curling his hand into a fist and striking Kiba in the ribs again. He pulled back, his hand unscathed, but oddly bleeding. Or blood was covering it.

The trader spared it a mystified glance before turning back to Kiba, who had inexplicably vanished from sight.

Once Sasuke located the nin-ken owner, he raised his eyebrows.

He was doing some jutsu that he wasn't familiar with, and wouldn't be because he caught the tail end of Kiba's hand seals. From what he saw, he deducted that it was a fire jutsu.

Kiba started a new set of handseals, obviously his signature Gatsuuga.

What surprised Sasuke was not this normal occurrence. What surprised him was that flame shot up around Kiba, enveloping him in its red and orange. Spontaneously combusting was not a normal, every day Kiba-thing. At least, it wasn't when Sasuke left.

The whirling spiral started up and sped at the trader, alight with flame.

Sasuke dodged the tornado, but flames licked his skin.

Unnerved, he turned around to face the revolving inferno, wondering just how the hell anyone in Konoha got a hold of that kind of jutsu.

Despite his sharingan, the blazing twister caught him full in the chest, seeing as it had approached about as fast as it was turning.

Irritated, Sasuke tore after it, planning on getting revenge.

The cyclone rounded on the Uchiha and grazed his side before passing him and preparing to attack again.

Sasuke turned around and accepted the blow, grabbing the rotary flames, trying to put an end to its movement.

Sasuke's attempt was foiled when the cyclone of fire spun wildly out of his grip. With no other option, he returned to watching what he knew was Kiba warily.

After giving the trader only a moment to himself to think, the blazing twister came at him, once more.

Making a snap decision, Sasuke prepared to jump out of the way.

Curiously, the flame started to flicker, as if Kiba was losing the chakra to maintain the jutsu, and then completely died.

Instead, now approaching him was a whirl of crimson.

Mystified, Sasuke continued to watch it's much slower advance, as if entranced by this strange, new, unannounced jutsu.

He heard a crack that nearly snapped him out of his stupor.

Something flew from the tornado of red that was similarly crimson colored.

Whatever it was, it hit the ground with a soft thump that indicated that it was solid.

The jutsu Kiba had done and was currently managing darkened in its blood-colored shade.

To Sasuke's utter astonishment, a blood covered bone shot out and, before he could react, pierced him. It struck about three inches below his collarbone, near his left underarm.

Sasuke grimaced, consumed by the quite unexpected pain for a moment.

When he looked up, the bloody cyclone was, at that moment, starting to slow it's spin, as if Kiba had only just noticed that one of his ribs had shot out of his chest.

Sasuke stood, rooted to the spot, still stunned and slightly uneasy.

It seemed as if Kiba was knocked out of his jutsu and fell into Sasuke, almost as if he was tackling him.

When Sasuke hit the ground, Kiba rolled onto the dirt, pulling his bone out of Sasuke's shoulder, but losing his grip on the blood slick object as he went.

He grabbed for the bone again, this time succeeding in grasping it, and tried to crawl on to where the solid object fell, which Sasuke guessed had to be the jagged end of the rib bone.

The Inuzuka left a trail of blood droplets behind him, and left s small pool every time he collapsed.

He did sustain a few minor burns and several cuts, as though he had been thrown around inside his own jutsu, but the most taxing damage was obviously the hole in his chest from the bone.

Sasuke was considering just leaving him like he was when someone brushed by him rather quickly.

He turned, recognizing that someone as Karin, from his hand chosen team.

An instant later Kiba had slammed into a tree, letting out what sounded like a whimper.

Karin stood over Kiba, a malevolent light in her eyes, and pressing a kunai to Hinata's throat.

"Take this one, will you?" Karin said, pushing Hinata and the kunai at Sasuke.

Sasuke wanted to remind her who was the head of their little group, but settled for asking her, "Where are the other two?"

Karin shrugged. "I left them behind, Sasuke-kun… thought that only the two of us were needed."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, and opened his mouth to tell her that he alone would have sufficed to finish the job, but decided against it when Karin kicked Kiba again. At the moment, she seemed to have a lust for blood rather than him, and he didn't really want to ruin that.

Kiba tried to get up, but Karin kicked him in the side, another surge of blood splattered the dirt.

"Did you have **that** much trouble with him?" Karin asked.

"No," Sasuke started, annoyed, "he wasn't like that before."

Kiba pushed himself out of the way of another kick by leaning against the tree he had previously landed against, then slashed at her with his jagged bone.

Rather unexpectedly, Karin grabbed the tip of the bone, cutting her hands slightly, and pulled it from Kiba's grip, pushing Kiba back into the tree with her foot.

"What's this?" She wondered aloud, examining it. "It looks like a rib."

"It is." Sasuke confirmed.

Karin looked somewhat intrigued. "Wonder how he got it out… That's pretty good, him going without a bone…" She sounded halfway between impressed and scoffing. "No wonder he looked shaky."

She removed her foot from Kiba's chest and he promptly slid to the ground.

"Maybe we could get it back in…" Karin spoke softly, but there was something evil behind that quiet tone, something that was quite insane.

"No, that won't be-." Sasuke started.

"Fine." Karin said, a clear note of pouting in her voice. "I'll do something you approve of instead, okay?"

Sasuke didn't say a word, but Karin decided the answer was yes.

She flung the bone aside and stepped up to Kiba's bleeding form.

When he came to a stop a few feet away, Sasuke almost winced, too.

Karin turned him over with her foot. The Inuzuka was breathing much faster than before.

Karin didn't hesitate to step on the bleeding wound, smirking with satisfaction.

Kiba screamed in pain, using the only release of the feeling he could find, even if it was only momentarily relieving.

Blood now surrounded Karin's sandal, dark, thick, and sticky.

Kiba heaved a gasp to get air, each breath sounding more and more like a choke.

She smiled, almost getting a high off his pain.

She wanted to feel that again, one more time…

--

Sakura ears picked up the scream, and her heart sank.

She looked around to see if anyone else had heard it.

Clearly, they had.

'Damn it.'

**1234567890**

**End Chapter**

**That was a really long wait, huh? Sorry about that. Sorry if Karin seems a tad out of character. I never really did invest much into her. Hope you readers can forgive me for not up dating for so long, again! Also, thing after thing isn't happening to Kiba, even though it may seem that way. It's a result of what happened in earlier chapters. His bones were made a bit more brittle because of what happened, so it eventually caused the bone popping out completely because of the strain on the bones, and obviously, that spot where the bone came out was sore and cracked, which helps to explain that, as well. Hinata will be playing a bigger part next time, too.**

**Read and Review!**

**RedRum!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Okay, okay… I should stop apologizing if I'm just going to do it again… I took quite a bit of time updating, again. At least this time I didn't make any update promises. According to the reviews I've received, I'm going to try to slide Sakura's 'crush' over to Naruto. I am more awkward writing GaaSaku because I like NaruSaku better and almost always accidentally hint at NaruSaku, because it is one of my favorites. **

**I do NOT own Naruto, hell, I don't even own my own anime, let alone a successful one!**

**1234567890**

"What was that?" Chouji had stopped eating potato chips long enough to ask nervously. 'I KNOW that wasn't my stomach.' He thought, shaking his head.

"It sounded like… well…" Ino trailed off.

Temari gulped. "It did sound like…"

Shino adjusted his glasses, though he seemed to use extra care in placing his shades, as if afraid that he might drop them, which had never happened before… at least, not to anyone's knowledge who was present.

"That most definitely did not sound like a holler of youth." Lee stated worriedly.

"Yeah… Lee's right… it was more like a shout of… un…youth." Kankuro agreed awkwardly.

Shikamaru frowned. For all they knew, that scream had nothing to do with them. Disturbing, though it was, that someone might be being terrorized in Konoha, but they couldn't really afford to take side trips. Besides, something told Shikamaru that they wouldn't need to take a detour to reach whoever it was that screamed.

What Neji said next implied that everyone else thought the source of the sound was their destination. "That better not have been Hinata!"

"Neji!" Tenten said in a scolding tone, and punched him hard in the back.

"So, you think it's them, Neji?" Sakura asked, rather softly. "And you hope it's Kiba, aren't you?"

Gaara raised his eyebrows, wondering what was wrong with a perfectly good shout of agony… oh…that's right…

"That's not what I-" Neji started.

"Relax." Sakura told him. "I hope it was Kiba, too."

"Isn't it sort of, err, contradictory to your medical status to be saying that?" Kankuro asked.

Ino looked surprised. "I like Hinata better too, Sakura, but that's just a little bit cold on your part."

"It is very unyouthful to wish pain upon another person, Sakura-san!" Lee scolded, looking disappointed.

"I'm not wishing pain upon anyone, Lee, nor did I say that out of personal preference." Sakura denied.

"Right, because if it was Hinata, that would mean Kiba already bit the bullet, and that would be troublesome." Shikamaru pointed out.

"Use common sense." Shino said. "Hinata doesn't sound like a man." He adjusted his glasses and kept walking, followed by amazed gawks from all except Gaara, Shikamaru, and Sakura, and Neji.

Neji only glared.

--

"Karin." Sasuke said. She didn't respond.

He sighed. It didn't look like she would be stopping any time soon. "Karin." He repeated, this time more commandingly.

"What? If you're bored, just go ahead. I'm having a great time." Karin brushed her leader off.

Sasuke grumbled impatiently. He WAS bored, but leaving Karin behind with a possibility of Konoha backup on their asses was not a prospect he liked. They would have to leave immediately.

One look at Kiba told him that his former comrade was neither bored nor having a good time. Somehow, somewhere deep down, he knew he was feeling the emotion of pity. Or maybe a very painful stab around his midriff…

Suddenly, a sharp pain near his abdomen broke through his thoughts, finally making him fully aware of it.

It was a moment before he realized Hinata stabbed him, and the moment he did, he cursed his absentmindedness.

Hinata withdrew from Sasuke, her hands glowing blue.

'Shit.' Sasuke mentally cursed.

"Jyuuken, 64 strike!" She murmured.

Karin was too involved in her 'great time' that she didn't notice the silent attack.

"Having fun, Inuzuka?" Karin asked sweetly.

'No, not exactly.' Kiba thought. 'But it's so kind of you to be concerned about whether or not I'm having fun when I couldn't really care less about you.'

"Well?" Karin repeated, in an almost mockingly anxious way.

"Oh yeah, time of my life, just like Sasuke." Kiba said, deliberately alerting Karin to Sasuke's condition.

Karin turned around to get a look at Sasuke, who had slid to the ground, holding his wound. "Sasuke-kun!" She gasped.

Kiba took this opportunity to throw a kunai at her.

Karin promptly whipped around and knocked the kunai aside.

"I'm not stupid." She scoffed.

'I dunno about that.'

Hinata hurtled into Karin, hitting her over and over with Jyuuken.

A medical scroll plopped down in a patch of grass next to the tree Kiba was sitting against.

He picked it up, and immediately disappeared into hiding to heal himself.

Hinata had knocked Karin into the ground and struck her with Gentle Fist relentlessly, even as Karin's blood flung into her face.

Hinata had the element of surprise, and was not going to let this opportunity slip away.

Besides, this was for her and Kiba. It was very personal.

--

Naruto jumped onto another branch, always keeping his eyes locked on his destination.

He was focused on catching Sasuke, and that was all that mattered to him.

"Naruto? Where are you-?"

'Sakura-chan?' Naruto looked down to catch a glimpse of pink hair before his shin crashed into a branch.

His focus was gone, and he wouldn't be catching it in mid-fall, not now that he was so surprised that he had found them already.

He crashed head first into the ground and blacked out, though, he noticed, upon impact, that the ground was a fair bit more cushioned than he remembered.

--

The group was traipsing through the jungle of trees when Sakura heard a rustling of leaves above somewhere behind them.

Instinctively, she looked up and a flash of orange caught her eye.

"Naruto?" She called.

He looked down at her.

It was Naruto.

She winced when his leg crashed into a branch and he flipped over the branch.

The knuckle-headed ninja plummeted towards the ground.

Sakura ran towards the place where he would land, and, deciding she wouldn't make it fast enough on her feet, slid beneath him and caught him.

Despite her effort, he still managed to smack his head into the ground, though he was mostly saved from the damage of the impact.

He blacked out.

--

Naruto opened his eyes groggily, then, remembering his mission, brought his head up at an amazingly speedy rate.

He felt something hard connect with the top of his head, and whatever it was fell backwards.

"How long was I out? We have to- Sakura-chan, what are you- Ow!" The solid object that connected with the top of his head had been Sakura's chin, and the blow knocked her flat. But, she shook it off enough to give Naruto one hard blow to the back of the head.

"You were out for like four seconds. Then you woke up." Sakura grumbled, nursing her chin. "You made me bite my tongue, by the way. What kind of thanks is that?"

"Thanks?" Naruto asked quizzically. "What happened?"

"You fell out of a tree." Neji said moodily, as though he had no time for such childish things. "Sakura caught you so that you wouldn't damage that brain of yours any further than it is."

"Oh… hey! Shut up." Naruto ordered.

Neji snorted.

"We have better things to be doing right now. Hurry up!" Naruto exclaimed, rising to his feet shakily. "Sasuke's here!" And with that, he took off running, dragging the all too lazy Shikamaru with him and Sakura not too far behind him. Shino took off at a walking pace.

"We'll call you guys for back up if we need it!" Naruto shouted over his shoulder.

"Why couldn't I have been part of the back up? How troublesome." Shikamaru sighed.

The rest of the group processed this information, then glanced at one another quizzically.

--

Kiba looked at the scroll then at the bone still sticking through his chest. He sighed in defeat. The scroll had used all of the medical chakra in it.

At least he couldn't feel anything in that area, and at least the bone was back in him, even if only partially.

Kiba stood up and then vanished once again.

--

Naruto, Shikamaru, and Sakura came to a stop, surveying the scene before them with confusion.

Normally, as they all knew, Hinata didn't take to hitting someone relentlessly, and Sasuke didn't usually start bleeding spontaneously, either.

They shook themselves off in time to notice that Sasuke was inching towards Hinata with a kunai in his hand.

He began to rise to his feet and poise himself to stab.

"No you don't!" Naruto shouted, catching Hinata and Sasuke's attention for a second.

Sasuke turned back to Hinata to follow through with the motion, but Naruto wasn't going to let that happen.

He flew top speed at Sasuke, ready to strike, when someone flung themselves out of what must have been thin air and tackled Sasuke to the ground, punching him several times before satisfied that the traitor was unconscious.

"Ki…Kiba? You… alright?" Naruto asked as Kiba got up. "I heard someone yell…"

"No, I'm fine now… at least, it's nothing Sakura can't fix." Kiba shrugged it off.

"Why're you… is that a… bone?" Naruto questioned.

Kiba looked down unconsciously. "Oh, yeah, it is."

"…Oh." Naruto looked slightly queasy.

Sakura lifted Hinata to her feet, her knuckles, face, and torso splattered with specks of blood.

Karin must have been unconscious by then.

Sakura glanced at Kiba and Hinata. "Looks like you've had a bad day." She commented.

"That just about sums it up." Kiba grinned.

"Doesn't that… you know… hurt?" Naruto asked poking the bone a little too hard.

Kiba recoiled slightly, then scowled at Naruto. "Well, yeah. Now I know not to poke it, thanks." He said sarcastically.

"Troublesome." Shikamaru muttered, looking at Karin and Sasuke.

Shino finally came into view, still walking.

Suddenly, smoke erupted from Sasuke's body, and Sasuke launched himself through the smoke at Kiba.

Kiba narrowly dodged the attempt.

"Hyuuga." Sasuke breathed, his tone deadly. "Inuzuka."

Kiba didn't want to stick around to hear what the Uchiha had to say, but he did hear it.

"I'm going to put you both in hell."

Hinata gapped at the furious boy, as though she couldn't comprehend such a violent thought.

Kiba grabbed Hinata by the hand and dragged her away.

"K-Kiba!" Hinata gasped. "You're crushing my hand!"

"Sorry." Kiba growled, letting go.

"Damn… I was sure he was unconscious…" Kiba berated himself.

Kiba looked behind him, but Sasuke was nowhere in sight. "Looks like we lost him. Good thing too. I was thinking I wouldn't be able to run one more minute."

"Kiba!" Hinata tried to warn him of a food stand, but she was too late.

"Hu-?" He started, but crashed into the stand, sending food and boy to the ground.

"Itai…" Kiba mumbled, feeling his head and chest.

"Kiba, are you- Eep!" Hinata squeaked when Sasuke tore out from behind the crashed food stand and leapt at her.

She dove to the side just in time. Sasuke got up and charged at Hinata, who was sprawled on the ground.

Before he could make contact, a melon smashed into the side of his head, knocking him off course.

Hinata sprang to her feet and the Inuzuka and Hyuuga dashed away once more.

"Kiba, since continuing to run will most likely end in disaster, use henge." Hinata suggested.

Kiba nodded, and a moment later, an older, taller burnet with blue eyes and shorter hair was before her, and she became a blue eyed blond several inches taller and older looking.

They settled down on a bench when they came across a park.

"Act like we're on a date or something." Hinata instructed.

"Uh, okay…" Kiba nodded.

Seconds later, Sasuke skidded up to their bench, looking at them suspiciously.

"Who are you?" Sasuke asked nastily.

"It's rude to ask people for their name before telling them your own." Hinata piped up.

Sasuke scowled at her, and growled in frustration. "Tell me what you're doing here, then."

Hinata opened her mouth, but Kiba interrupted her would be lecture on rudeness, seeming to read her mind.

"On a date, man. What else?" Sasuke eyed him suspiciously.

"I don't believe you, Inuzuka."

Kiba held his hands up innocently. "I dunno who the hell you're going on about, but seems to me that you're a bit out of you're tree demanding us to prove our innocence and to answer your questions."

"I still don't believe either of you." Sasuke decided.

Suddenly, Kiba got an idea, a sort of spur of the moment thing. "Well, honey, guess we'll just have to make out with him watching."

"Uh-!" Hinata started to protest, but Kiba silenced her with a kiss… a very long kiss.

"Satisfied, you insane pervert?" Hinata squeaked.

Sasuke's nose wrinkled in disgust. "No, it's most likely an act."

Kiba and Hinata gapped at him.

"Hey bastard, what are you doing kissing my girl?" A male voice called.

Kiba and Hinata looked at each other in panic as a random fellow sauntered up to Kiba drunkenly and tried to take a swing at him. Kiba ducked.

"She's not you're girl, she's mine!" Kiba protested.

The drunk squinted at Hinata and realization seemed to dawn on him. "You're right. My girl had a lot more freckles." He hiccupped and stumbled away.

"Uh…" Kiba shrugged at Hinata.

Sasuke had disappeared from sight, when suddenly another call came. "Hey, bastard!"

"Damn it! Not again!" Kiba groaned. But this voice sounded familiar. It sounded like Naruto's voice, and it was coming from ahead.

Hinata and Kiba rushed to the scene. Sure enough, Naruto was there, facing off against Sasuke.

"Dirty." Naruto panted.

Sasuke frowned at him. Apparently, he knew that if he stayed, he would lose the fight.

Sasuke tried to make a break for it, but Shino was blocking a path, and on the other two paths, Sakura and Shikamaru were stationed. Behind him stood Kiba and Hinata. He was boxed in.

Naruto sped at him with great speed and struck him with all the strength and chakra he could muster into one punch.

Sasuke immediately slumped over, unconscious, this time Sakura checked to see if he really was. He was unconscious.

"Thanks, you really saved our necks with that drunk illusion. He didn't anticipate that." Hinata said.

"No problem." Sakura said warmly. "Good work on your part, too. Even if him suddenly getting up and attacking you wasn't completely expected, you got him to a place with more ninja around incase we needed back up. I'll get you guys to Naruto's apartment, it's closest, and heal you."

"Thanks-" Kiba started, but then Neji's voice sounded off directly in his ear.

"You son of BITCH!" Kiba started to whirl around to argue when Neji punched him upside the head, and Kiba fell, dazed and exhausted.

"That was troublesome." Shikamaru remarked. "I don't think you really had to do that."

"I wanted to." Neji growled, but calmed down when Hinata hit his shoulder.

"Was there any other reason than hitting Kiba that you came here?" Sakura asked mildly.

Neji nodded slightly, as if this reason was less important than hitting Kiba. "That woman, Karin, is gone. We believe that it's to get back up to get Sasuke."

**END CHAPTER**

**I know it's not good enough for not updating for such a long time, but… please, still read and review! Hinata played a much bigger role here, as I promised. I will update with in the year, though, I know that much. Unless I discontinue this…I don't think I will discontinue it. Review!**


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